WHEN HOPE IS HARD TO FIND

There is a saying, and even a song, that says that the God on the mountain, is still God in the valley. The God we praise and trust when everything seems good and “going right” is still God when everything seems upside down and hope is hard to find.
 
When hard times come or we face dilemmas that seem unfixable, we sometimes get the “why’s.” We say things to the Lord such as, “I don’t understand God” “Why did You let this happen?” “Why is this happening to my loved one?” “Why is this happening to me?” If you never wondered why or never asked or blamed God with any of the “why talk,” you might be a robot or an angel. For the rest of us, we are human and it is a natural response. But we must stop and question the tone of our “why’s.” And then how do we handle it?
 
As human beings, the need to blame someone is intrinsic. It is a deep part of the fleshly nature, the carnal nature that we are all born with. From our very beginning, Adam and Eve did it in the Garden of Eden. Firstly, Adam blamed God and Eve for his sin.

• Genesis 3:11-12 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"  Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."

 
We see that he was blaming God when he said that. And then Eve. And finally, Adam admitted that he did eat it. And then it was Eve’s turn.

• Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

 
Eve admitted that she ate it too, but after blaming the devil and his deception. It is our nature to blame and make excuses. And when things go wrong, this can really take root. For those of us who believe that God is real and that He is in control, it is easy to blame Him, or to want to know why, when things seem hard or terrible. No matter how tough the going gets, we must not lose our “fear of the Lord.” This means reverential respect. We can wonder or ask the Lord questions, but we better do it respectfully. To disrespect the Lord is sinful and wrong, and as Christians we should never do it. And blaming Him is the wrong way to go about it. We must remember that He gave us all free will. We are free to mess up, and the rest of mankind is too. If we weren’t, it would be different. Free will is expensive for us, individually and corporately, and our mistakes and sins hurt God too. Even human parents hurt over seeing their children make mistakes. We cannot even fathom how God feels. He is not like us in the way that we had to learn for ourselves, and now our children have to learn too. But Hallelujah, He is God and Creator who turns all of it for as much good as possible. He is the Redeemer.

• Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

 
When things are rough, we must trust the Lord even more. We must trust that He has a plan. We can know that just as it was for Joseph, who was beaten and sold into slavery by his brothers, and even falsely accused and imprisoned, that God will turn the wrongs for good. Joseph hung in there. If he ever got depressed or weary, it is not recorded. But it is recorded by his actions, that his faith stood and carried him through. Most of the time, we have limited vision about our circumstances. Thankfully, God has the bigger vision and plans.

• Genesis 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

 
It is okay to not understand things, or feel hurt or frustrated. The thing is, what do we do next?  The easiest thing to do is sin. We could choose to have a pity party, be angry or frustrated with others or ourselves, blame God or many other unhelpful or sinful choices. The thing to do is to take the hurts and frustrations and give them to the Lord. Humbly cry out. Seek Him and His direction. He faithfully helps those who do. There have been times that situations looked so bleak and I was trying to persevere and things got even bleaker. But I kept crying out to the Lord for help and He turned the darts of the enemy back on them, and He helped my hurts as only He could do. Sometimes, things are way past the brain. When the heart travails, it can be deepest kind of pain. And God understands and cares and wants to help us if we would only let Him.
 
As Christians, we have the greatest resource, our Father. And instead of losing our composition, we must move past the troubles and trust the Lord and His wisdom. He never said that there would not be fires or floods but He did say He would be with us in those times, Isaiah 43:2. We can wholeheartedly trust the Word of God.

• Psalms 34:17-19 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

 
Much is also said in the New Testament about such matters. The disciples and the early church lived through some of the hardest times in history.

• 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

 
We could have the greatest education and equipment, but without a good attitude, how far would we get? Many say, attitude is half the battle. So if you are going through a little pressure testing, or time of what would be despair but for the Lord, let us take a deep breath and give (or re-give) our situations to the Lord, forgive ourselves or others, and leave the judgment to the Lord and law enforcement and press on through or past the circumstances. I will close with the verses that Paul wrote after the ones above.

• 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Eli Cockrell
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