Hopelessness - surely one of the most frightening words we know.
My 96 year old mother often tells of a time of hopelessness in her own family. It happened long before she was born - during a time of great financial struggle for the entire country. Her mother, my grandmother, had to go out to work to help support the family leaving her six month old infant girl in the care of a friend.
While in the friend’s care, the baby scratched herself on the rusty old carriage where she was napping. What, in our time would have been a minor problem, quickly escalated into a life and death struggle as infection coursed through her tiny body. Without any effective medication, they could only watch with an overwhelming a sense of hopelessness as this precious little one slipped away.
We all, at one time or another, will find ourselves in a situation that seems hopeless. For the one who knows Jesus as Savior, it is (as Pastor Doug reminded us) an opportunity for God to call us closer to Himself. We don’t have to think all is lost because we cannot control the circumstances in our lives. Instead we can learn to trust the One who controls all things.
This hope is not a feeble-hearted wish. It is confident expectation that God will do what He has promised.
We have this priceless gift to share with those who don’t know the Lord. When we speak to them about the eternal hope we have in Jesus, we wrap it in prayer placing it in thes hands of the One who gives life and hope to all who will receive it - by the power of His Spirit.
“Prayer draws God’s heart into our lives. When you combine prayer and action, there is no hopeless situation.” (Pastor Doug)
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
