Have You Lost Hope?

Have you lost hope? Are you growing weary of fighting to find hope in your circumstances? Too often we are looking to the wrong things or people. As I was reading Lamentations 3 this morning I was reminded that regardless of how I feel, regardless of my current circumstances, or how people treat me, I can still have hope. I can still walk with joy through my circumstances because I hope in what the Lord has promised.

In Lamentations 3 we see one who has lost hope. He is a man who has seen affliction(1) and feels as if his prayers are not heard.(8) He has no peace and has forgotten happiness. His strength has failed and he has lost hope. (17-18) Can you identify? Have you been so overwhelmed by your circumstances that you have lost hope?

If you find yourself in a place of lost hope then may I encourage you to remember that the Lord’s faithfulness will never cease toward those who seek Him. Lamentations continue with a reminder that we would also do well to remember. “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.” (21)

In the midst of feeling forgotten and losing hope we need to remember that “ The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (22-23) God promises to remain faithful to His children. He will never fail or disappoint. We can have hope because God, and God alone, will never fail us.

God is our portion and because He is we can hope in Him. What this means is that even if we have lost all we have in this world, finances, family, friendships, comfort, or even my health, we can have hope that God is with us. We can be satisfied with nothing and rest knowing we have God.

 This attitude is hard and I am still working on it. To be content with God alone even if my family and friends forsake me? I’d rather be destitute, live in great physical pain and poor health than be forsaken by those I love. My greatest fear has always been to be abandoned by those I love. To come to the end of my life and realize I have no friends or family who care about me. Yet I am continually reminded that all the Lord has in mine and He is enough. I am reminded that the things (and people) of this world will disappoint but God never will. I am reminded that unless I put my hope in the Lord I will always live in a place of disappointment.

When our hope is in the Lord we are never disappointed.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. (Lam 3:24-25)

Why not spend time today reading Lamentations 3. Circle the word hope and write down all you see about hope. Who do we hope in? Why should we hope? What is the result of hope? I would love to have you come back and share what God has showed you.

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