There is no shortage of hopeless situations around the world. We also have our own circumstances that are often overwhelming. It’s just easy to feel hopeless. So how do we find hope for what seems hopeless?
a. Hopeless Situations Are Allowed By God.
The Bible is filled with stories of hopeless situations and that’s what’s so great about it. You can find one you can identify with! Noah, Moses, Gideon, David, and many more faced hopeless situations. The pages of scripture are filled with stories of tragedy, crisis, and people struggling with hope.
Acts 14:22 NLT says, “They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.”
Experiencing many hardships is part of the journey to our final destination. They are allowed by God. So why does God permit them? Because:
-Hopeless situations allow us to see God more clearly
Psalm 18:6 NLT “But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.”
Sometimes desperation opens our eyes so that we pursue and see God. Sometimes we just have to get to the end of our rope in order for God to open our eyes. When things are all going well, it’s easy to lose sight of God. But when everything is dark, all the distractions of life are removed, and we see God very clearly. Often it is in our hopeless condition where we experience God the most!
-Hopeless situations strengthen our faith and clarify our convictions.
1 Peter 1:6, 7 NLT “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
It is in the hopeless situations of life where our faith is truly tested. Will we cling to what God has said?
Will we continue to follow despite every circumstance in our life telling us otherwise?
When there is no tangible evidence of God’s goodness or loving care all you feel is hopelessness. Yet, when these times happen, we must remember that we are on God’s anvil. The anvil is not there to break you. It is there to mold you into a more useful tool in the masters hand. When a tool emerges from the fires of the anvil of hopelessness, your faith and convictions are refined, your purpose is clearer, and life makes more sense. The strength of my faith and the clarity of my convictions came from the fires of God’s anvil.
-Hope results from clinging to God despite the hopelessness of our situation.
Job 13:15 NIV “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him…”
Now that is faith and conviction! • Hopeless situations are allowed by God.
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