When our circumstances do not turn out the way we hoped and dreamed we have three choices. We can look down with discouragement and despair OR look around and find blame OR look up to God in hope. Maybe you feel that time is running out and it’s too late to … Maybe you might relate to the psalmist when he said,
I’ve had my fill of trouble; I’m camped on the edge of hell. I’m written off as a lost cause, one more statistic, a hopeless case. Psalm 88:3-4 (TM)
Not exactly the verse to have on your frig. Yet, no matter what’s happening in your life, no matter how grim, it’s not too late to look up and experience hope. Maybe you’re like a lot of others who wait for the circumstances to change when they’re hungry for hope? What if your situation doesn’t change then what? You might be in very hard place right now, but you don’t have to live without hope.
In Genesis 12 God told Abraham to leave the security of his homeland and go to the promised land and there God would make his name great. Note that God promised His blessing, but on that God directed trip Abraham encountered extreme hardships and relational conflict all throughout his long journey.
Abraham eventually got deeply discouraged. He had been waiting for God’s promised heir for over 25 years. Maybe like Abraham you’re wondering how much longer can I wait? What do you do when you don’t know what to do?
The good news is that in the midst of Abraham’s mistakes and deep 
disappointment we read, “When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.” Romans 4:18 TM
God wants us and the people we know to have hope. Where or what do we direct people to? What do we tell people when they ask us where to find hope? Go online and find someone to put your hope in, have another drink, get a change of venue, just be positive… and on it goes.
So, how can we look up with hope despite our desperation? There are some choices we can make when were in this place. The first choice is to…
Allow God’s love to be your life preserver.
Hold unto Him when you don’t have anything else to hold unto. For so many it’s so easy to give up hope and distract ourselves with every imaginable thing that simply doesn’t help. It just prolongs our hopelessness and disappointment.
Don’t allow your job or a significant other to be your life preserver. Yes, your friends and family can help you with encouraging support, but to make them your life preserver is expecting from them what only God can do. Who do you look up to as your life preserver? Only God’s love is there at every moment.
I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth! Psalm 121:1-2
It’s never too late to look up to God triumphantly in trust and surrender.
But I have hope when I think of this: The LORD’S love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning. Lamentations 3:21-23 NCV
Okay, how do you do that? Every day and every morning even when you feel helpless and hopeless remind yourself that God’s love is your ultimate life preserver. Tell yourself before you get up, “no matter what He loves ME!”
In order to look up to God with real hope we have some other choices to make as well, but they’re harder. Stay tuned for those other practical choices next time.
Looking Up with Hope,
Mark
mark@startingoverworkshops.com
