Hopeنموونە

Hopelessness often comes at the point in your life when you feel you have hit rock bottom. But as I always like to point out, God will often let us hit rock bottom so that we will discover that He is the Rock at the bottom. Hopelessness is often born out of difficulties, defeats and discouragements. And while these things are painful, there are seasons when the Lord uses our suffering to grow and strengthen us. These are the times when He sees fit to strip us of our self-sufficiency. 

Friend, we shouldn’t run from difficulties or try to cope our way out of the lessons to be learned. It is not pleasant and it is not happy, I understand. But it will produce in you a better life than you ever imagined, if you let it and don’t resist the growth. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:3). Those who are spiritually broken will be blessed because they will see God in a way unlike most others. They will experience His reality and presence flowing through their lives in a uniquely personal manner.

Scripture promises that God remains close to those who are broken and He makes them stronger than before. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Isaiah 61:3 teaches that God would give those who mourn and are broken “a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

We’ve all seen restored furniture. Restoring furniture involves stripping away old varnish or paint with strong chemicals. This reveals all the nooks, crannies and original spots on the piece of furniture. The sanding takes place next where the wood is rubbed with coarse sandpaper in order to level out its imperfections. Then the furniture is ready to receive a new stain or paint color – it’s ready for a new look. 

New glory can be given to old furniture. And God can do the same thing with you. He can put new glory inside your old life, but He must first strip away the blemishes while also sanding away the strongholds in order to bring you to a place of purity and dependence on Him.

The Lord longs to bless and restore you, but He also wants to transform you in the process. Sometimes the greatest path to healing involves embracing the hurt while understanding God is after your greater good. Just like an athlete experiencing pain in taking him or her to the next level of strength, God often uses the painful times in our lives to make us stronger. Today I want you to thank Him for what He is doing and can do through the trials you face. I’m not asking you to thank Him for the trials as that may be too hard to do right now, but I would like you to thank Him for the good He is producing through them.

Oftentimes hopelessness can provoke the question: Does God really care? We want to encourage you in this through a gift of a sermon download by Tony Evans titled "Oh Yes He Cares." Simply click this link.