Finding Hope

I have had many conversations with young couples, mostly young wives, who tell me their story and the struggles they are having in their marriages and they ask, “Do you think there is hope?” To date I have never had to answer, “Nope! You are in a hopeless situation and even God can’t fix this one!” The very fact that they can see that there are some struggles and weaknesses and issues, tells me that they have hope. Maybe even more hope than those who seem to be coasting along without struggling. Why? Because it is in the trials of life that we can find out that we are weak and God is strong. It is in coming to the place that we discover our  NEED FOR HIM that we find HOPE.

Sunday the pastor threw this equation up on the board:

Pain + Belief = HOPE

So there is more to the story. We don’t just struggle and suddenly become strong. It is when we learn to anchor ourselves to the belief that God is all powerful and all knowing and all seeing that we can release our pain and grab onto hope. 

If you are in a relationship that doesn’t seem to be growing or healthy, take the pain of that struggle and be honest about it. Don’t sweep it under the rug and act like everything is okay. Be willing to be real and say, “this hurts and I hate it.”  God is listening all the time and He knows the truth anyway, so why not tell Him how you feel? 

Sometimes it hurts so bad that we tend to believe that God has turned His back and is completely unaware of our struggles. That isn’t true, but He knows you are thinking that… so don’t try to play the tough guy. Cry out to Him as long as it takes to get it off your chest. If it was good enough for King David, you aren’t too big or cool to do it.

But here is the key to get you to the hope that you need… In spite of the pain and ugliness you are living in, there must be a deep awareness of God as God. Not God as a picture, or a mythological deity, or a super hero. Psalm 22 is a great example of David crying about how tough life was for him and how he didn’t feel like God cared or was paying attention, however, his knowledge of and relationship with the God who sees us, helped him to realize that his pain was only one part of the equation. The pain was still there. The circumstances that caused him to fear were still there… BUT… so was the God who hears our cries. Knowing that changed his desperation into hope.

Is your marriage rocky?  Do you have a child that is on a slippery slope? Are you dealing with a job situation that is horrible? A diagnosis that is devastating?

Take that pain and combine it with faith in the One who loved you enough to sacrifice Himself to be connected with you, even in all your hot mess, and you will find hope. Draw close to the One who has the answers, the solutions, the wisdom, the strength that you need and He will take your belief in His goodness added to your pain and sum your life up in hope for tomorrow and all the days to come.