6th - 12th January 2025
Hope is for the hopeless
We often use the word “hope” for mundane things like “I hope it does not rain this weekend” or “I hope they like my gift”. In this usage the word is a weak kind of wish. But real hope is a word of enormous power and this power grows beyond measure when the situation is truly “hopeless”. The tiniest ember of hope can help us hold on and endure in the face of things that torment us. It is hope that moves us to tell God about our situation rather than run from him. There are many examples of those who felt hopeless in the Bible – one was Hannah. Hannah was married and could not have children and her partner had taken a second wife and had many children with her. Hannah is like many people today who find themselves in complex relationships – with multiple partners and children of various partners involved. Hannah faced hostility in this complex mix and it just broke her.
So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she (the other wife) used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 1 Samuel 1:7
Have you felt like this? No appetite and full of tears and sighing, not able to sleep and not able to find any escape?
Hope. That is the first step.
Then open your heart to the Lord.
She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. 1 Samuel 1:10-16
Notice that even when Hannah poured out her soul to the Lord she was misunderstood and even accused of sin. It just seems like Hannah can’t get a break. But that did not cause her to give up. She clung to the Lord in hope and poured out her request for help. Hannah’s need may be different from yours or mine but we can learn from her. No matter how complex and hopeless our situation, no matter how often we end up being misunderstood or accused, don’t give up.
Hope in the Lord.
Dear Father, help me see you through the pain and draw close to you. You see what is happening and you know all my feelings. Please lift me out of the place where I see no escape. I have heard of your great compassion and mercy – that is exactly what I need. I put my hope in you. Amen.
Written by Ed Underwood
MONDAY
For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever. Psalm 9:18
Dear Father, I am feeling forgotten and full of financial troubles. No matter what I do, things seem to get worse. Help me to remember that you really care about my problems. I long to find a place of rest. Help me to hold on to your promise of rest and help. My hope is in you. Amen.
TUESDAY
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4
Dear Father, in your word I see people with complex lives and hard problems – they are just like me! Please help me to have the courage, endurance and hope to hang on. I want to trust you and take shelter in you from the storms about me and inside me. My hope is in you. Amen.
WEDNESDAY
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:24-25
Dear Father, this verse is all about me. I don’t see any way through but you are telling me there is a way – it is just invisible and I need to have patience to see it. I am feeling weak and impatient, so I need your help more than ever. I want to hold on to you and believe you. My hope is in you. Amen.
THURSDAY
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Dear Father, please help me to have this perspective. I want to believe in the great and wonderful future that will make all my troubles now seem so small that I won’t even remember them. Again, you talk about reality being invisible. That day when things are better does really exist – it’s just not visible, yet. I want to hold on to that invisible day that is not just better, but better forever. My hope is in you. Amen.
FRIDAY
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4
Dear Father, I have cried so many tears. It is so comforting to think of you wiping those tears away. It is wonderful to think of a day when you will banish all pain and crying. I still feel stuck right now, help me to hold on to you. I long for you and for your home. My hope is in you. Amen.
SATURDAY
Rest in God alone, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him. Psalm 62:5
Dear Father, today I will rest in you. I will rest on you like floating on top of the water. I will not sink, I will not panic. My hope is in you. Amen.
SUNDAY
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18
Dear Father, I see people who are cheating, lying and threatening and they seem to do just fine. These people don’t have any of the troubles I have. Help me focus on you and what you desire. I want to hold on to your promise that there is a future for me. My hope is in you. Amen.