Hope in God
If you feel like you’re lacking hope, we’d like to pray with you and encourage you to reconnect with God. Please contact us.
We will always experience suffering during our lives here on our fallen Earth. When we experience pain, especially the death of a loved one, our natural response is to question, to ask why, and perhaps even to doubt God. Because it hurts.
Some people will respond to evil they see by denying that evil exists. But what is perhaps easy to say is quite difficult to live, or as C S Lewis put it: “Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later.” There is a name for the person who denies good and evil: a sociopath. Clearly the proper response to evil is not denial.
Other people will respond to evil by removing God from the equation. But removing God does not make evil less evil, nor pain less painful. In fact, removing God also removes ultimate hope. Without God, our world seems permanently and irredeemably evil. Without God, there is no ultimate relief from pain, only pain.
With God we cry out to a loving Father who remains with us and comforts us as we hurt and Himself came to Earth as a human being to suffer and die for us. But without God we cry out into the empty void of nothingness that neither hears our cry nor cares for our pain. Removing God results in no gain and much loss.
When we have God in our lives and hearts, we have hope during difficult times and comfort in the midst of tragedy. We have hope grounded in the fact of God’s mighty power, His limitless mercy, and everlasting love. No matter what happens, God loves us because God is love. And nothing can separate us from Him.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
Question: What do you need to say to God today in prayer? What questions do you have to ask God?
Learning to lean! What a great perspective Paul!! Thanks for taking the time to share with us!
A close friend told me, years ago, that my belief in God was only a CRUTCH! Recently I had extreme back trauma and intense leg pain as well. AT first I couldn’t even get out of bed. Then as I began to take short walks around the house, I used a pair of crutches. I learned, quickly, that as I leaned on the crutch it simultaneously took the weight and pressure off of my hurting leg. So thinking back on my friend’s comment years ago, I would have to say, Yes, I am leaning on my crutch, Jesus Christ, and he is taking a lot of unneccessary pain out of my life by Trusting in Him. In 23rd Psalm it waid, “Thy rod and thy staff comfort me.” The rod is used lovingly by God for correction and protection. The staff is made for reaching out to lost and run away sheep and pull them back into the fold away from imminent dangers. It is also to lean on. I find that Living for God and Trusting in His love and wisdom brings comfort to my life and especially during those roughest times. I find it somewhat amusing when people blame God for the death of a loved one, seeing that people have been dieing for thousands and thousands of years, and life just simply is not FAIR! Many times very good and beloved people die in very harsh and painful ways! And have been ever since man and woman were created! But like you aptly said, God is there to bring comfort and even reason to the worst scenarios in life. I thank Him for that. And I thank you for this wonderful devotional. The leg still isn’t 100% yet but I’m learning to LEAN!
Old hope paves the way to new hope.
Hope never fails until you run out of it.
Hope is generated out of exercised Faith, known history, and answered prayers.
What I believe is faith, what I do is charity, and what I expect – is hope.
God often fails our time schedule, but never His!
Evil could triumph if not were not for the hope of Good.
Hope sends light into the darkness and chases evil into hiding.
Faith and Hope are identical twins from the same Father, with different personalities.
Faith is the foundation and Hope is the tower – being built.
Doubt is uncommitted Faith.
Evil is as real as the sins in your neighbor’s life, …yours, as well!
It there were no evil there would be no judges, nor jails.
Adam was locked out of the Garden of Eden for the same reason we put locks on our doors…..evil!
Pray not to understand evil, but pray to understand good.
Surround yourself with good, and evil will take its own flight.
Pray for the wisdom to discern good and your life will be filled with it.
God often fails our time schedule but never His!
Evil could triumph if not were not for hope of Good.
Hope sends light into the darkness and chases evil into hiding.
Faith and Hope are identical twins from the same Father, with different personalities.
Faith is the foundation and Hope is the tower. being built.
Doubt is uncommitted Faith.
Evil is are real as the sins in your neighbors life, …yours as well!
It there were no evil there would be no judges nor jails.
Adam was locked out of the Garden of Eden, for the same reason we put locks on our doors, evil!
Pray not to understand evil but pray to understand good.
Surround yourself with good and evil will take its own flight.
Pray for the wisdom to discern good and your life will be filled with it.