Hope in the midst of disappointment

"Every detail is going wrong...even the little things. I still can't sort it all out. I have to consciously give this to God again. The struggle is real. So is the victory."

I texted these words to a friend of mine via WhatsApp on August 5 when I was on vacation last year. I remember how miserable I felt at the time. One piece of bad news after another assaulted me, one fight after the next, until I finally sat on the beach with tears in my eyes. My reaction was that of a defiant teenager: "Everything is stupid. I might as well go back home. I tried to trust, but…"

I received an email three months later that brought me to tears, and I finally understood: "Dear Déborah, you wrote me an email on August 5. That email caused the armored walls around my heart to collapse. Your words were a lifeline for me! If God had not prompted you to write that email, I would not be alive today!! This is the absolute truth. You saved my life!!"

I know it wasn't me who saved her life, but God was able to touch her through my decision to testify about Him, the One who saves lives!—despite my own disappointment during that incredibly difficult period of time.

In your DISAPPOINTMENT, always make the DECISION to hold on to hope!

I believe another storm was raging behind my storm, a battle on an invisible plane. The tempter's plan was to steal my hope through disappointment (see John 10:10) so that I could no longer share hope with others.

However, I decided to hold tightly to hope despite my disappointment because hope always has the final word! "Such hope [in God's promises] never disappoints us, because God's love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5, AMP)

As Proverbs also promises us, "...the LORD has the final word." (Proverbs 16:1, CEV)! What if God uses your decision to hope in order to change not only your life…but someone else's, too? :-)

You are a miracle!

Dèborah