Hope Again

Hope Again...
Light For Life October 2005

‘I give up!’ I have tried and tried and tried again, but, as I expected I failed…. Each one of us has an area in our life, maybe it is a big or important area or perhaps it is something relatively insignificant to others, but to us it’s an area that we just can't seem to conquer or to deal with and time and time again we fail. I guess I am really talking here about the areas that cause us grief, frustration, hurt; that lower our self esteem and self image and we have no peace because there is no let up and no breakthrough. These areas have a grip over us in different ways; we just can't seem to get away from them as they eventually come up again. There are moments of freedom but in the end it comes back to hitting this same wall again. It could be anything from fear, anxiety, depression, criticism, gossip or maybe smoking to drinking, too much dieting or not enough; it can be anything that seems to have control over you.

Our life is like a road which goes straight ahead though it may curve around, we will go up and down over mountains and into valleys. We are always at some point along it – on the mountain or in the valley, half way up or half way down. When we are on the mountains we don't so much care about the valleys but inevitably the valleys come around again and again. When we are in the valley and we have no hope for the situation what happens is that we try not to think about it, we just try and get through it as quick as possible because we don't really believe we can get a miracle for this as there is no hope left. Unfortunately this wont be the last we will see of this valley as we have allowed ourselves once again not have hope or believe.

Getting a breakthrough in your toughest area is possible, but the first thing we need to do is have hope! Did you know that hope is not the same as wishing? Biblical hope means something that we are counting on and believe for. When most people say hope they are usually doubtful. When you think about it, what happens is that hope fades; this is because we have been discouraged time after time and have given up. This is not our first intention but when we try and fail and try and fail again eventually hope is eroded and then we relegate this area to the too hard basket, it is out of reach and so we don't even try too hard anymore, and we push it into the background…until the next time it stirs that is. In the bible it says that ‘Hope is an anchor for our souls’. So what happens if we have no hope? We get tossed about; there is nothing from which to gain stability and steadiness.

I am at a place where I really want to believe God for some miracles and breakthroughs in me and my family as well – for example in the area of health. You see what happens is that this ‘area’ is always there, we may not spend too much time thinking about it but it is still hanging there in the background – hanging over our heads if you like. When things around us are good then we can forget about it for a while but when we are a bit low – then it comes back to haunt us and remind us that it is still there.

We can't believe God for a breakthrough and see it in this area if we are in denial, unbelief or even if all is well. We can't believe God for a breakthrough, which involves us walking by faith, when we are not required to walk by faith! We don't always expect a miracle while we are on the ‘mountain tops’ but we should look for our miracle, and keep hoping and believing for one when we are in the valleys!!!! Walking in faith for this area will require determination, focus and discipline –and that is just to stay in faith.

How powerful would it be if we could believe God for a breakthrough in this area and receive a miracle answer? It wouldn't be ‘the sky’s the limit’ – God would be the limit, which is really saying there is not limit to what could happen. So, we need to be anchored by hope, what would we lose? Not much, because if we are in faith and in hope then we are experiencing peace and joy, freedom and rest.

Again today I was listening to a message about hope. Faith is the substance of things HOPED for! So what do you get if you have no hope – nothing? No Hope equals no faith equals no answers. So, I began to hope for things, not just things but for miracles and breakthroughs. I asked God to lead me and to show me the practical steps to receiving them. Hope built up and up until it took root and my soul believed it. It got down on the inside and it began to transform me from the inside out. In one month I have seen the hand of God move in my life and family, if I were to tell you all the things that have happened you would be amazed. Better still I know that the best is yet to come.... I have hope!

What area have you lost hope for? Is it something that you have struggled with all your life? If you look at it you will see that losing hope is the first way where the possible becomes impossible. You need to find hope again, there is always something to hope on and that is the first step and key to our miracle. Find your hope and keep it and see what can happen in your life too.

Love
Cam

Word For Life

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary: The hope here meant, is a sure looking for good things promised, through those promises, with love, desire, and valuing of them. Hope has its degrees, as faith also. These promises of God may safely be depended upon; for here we have two things which cannot change, the counsel and the oath of God, in which it is not possible for God to lie; it would be contrary to his nature as well as to his will. . We are in this world as a ship at sea, tossed up and down, and in danger of being cast away. We need an anchor to keep us sure and steady. Gospel hope is our anchor in the storms of this world. It is sure and steadfast, or it could not keep us so. The free grace of God, the merits and mediation of Christ, and the powerful influences of his Spirit, are the grounds of this hope, and so it is a steadfast hope.

An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and the wind blow, and as long as the anchor holds, so long the ship is safe, and the mariner apprehends no danger. The storms of life continue but a short time; the anchor, hope, if fixed by faith in the eternal world, will infallibly prevent all shipwreck; the soul may be strongly tossed by various temptations, but will not drive, because the anchor is in sure ground, and itself is steadfast; it does not drag, and it does not break; faith, like the cable, is the connecting medium between the ship and the anchor, or the soul and its hope of heaven; faith sees the haven, hope desires and anticipates the rest; faith works, and hope holds fast; and, shortly, the soul enters into the haven of eternal repose.

Spirit Filled Life Bible: Hope: Hope, not in the sense of an optimistic outlook or wishful thinking without any foundation, but in the sense of confident expectation based on solid certainty. Biblical hope rests on God’s promises, particularly those pertaining to Christ’s return. So certain is the future of the redeemed that he NT sometimes speaks of the future events in the past tense, as though they were already accomplished. Hope is never inferior of faith, but it is an extension of faith. Faith is the present possession of grace; hope is confidence in the grace’s future accomplishment.

The Word

Hebrews 6:17-19 - Hope is an anchor for our soul – both sure and steadfast.
Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Psalm 42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and moan within me? Hope in God; for I shall praise Him for the salvation of His face.