I’ve noticed that I cry the most when I feel hopeless. That might be surprising. You might think sadness would be the primary emotion, but for me, it’s being defeated. And when you dive deeper into the feeling of defeat, I think that makes a lot of sense. I think about the funerals I’ve attended and the hopelessness I’ve felt. “I can do absolutely nothing to make this situation right; I have no power to bring this person back to life or to wipe out the loss I’m facing,” I think to myself in these moments, “I don’t know what to do with this bitter mixture of sadness and frustration.” When we navigate the loss of a loved one, financial hardship, chronic illness or falling into “that” sin again, defeat bubbles up. Defeat is sneaky, and it builds slowly over time in the background until we realize how far down the pit we’ve fallen.
You may have the spiritual gift of faith. Maybe when trials and tribulations sink in, you immediately say, “I can’t wait to see what God does with this seemingly hopeless situation.” Sometimes I like to think I have that gift, but I am not good at reminding myself of that. Yet, I think we should all remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:37-39, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rules, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This is one of my pathways out of feeling defeated: remember that your future hope is eternal and secure. When I feel the weight of the world, when hope seems elusive, we can find comfort in the words of Romans 8. When I feel hopeless, I read myself into that passage, and I begin to replace the words Paul writes with the words that apply to my circumstances. For example, “… I am sure that neither death nor life, poverty or wealth, layoffs or job security, career success or rejection, recognition or disregard … nothing can separate me from the love of God or the future hope that Jesus has purchased for you and me. I would encourage you to take that passage and write your circumstances into it. What is making you feel hopeless? Take comfort that God has promised us that once we are held in his hands, once we have surrendered our life and are called son or daughter, nothing can take us out of his hands. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Another way out of our hopelessness is remembering we were created for a purpose. Paul writes in Philippians 1:21 that to live is Christ and to die is gain. When I read this, I was struck by the boldness of the claim. In all circumstances, we can fulfill the purpose that God created us for. See, the command to love God and love others—the core of our design and purpose—is always possible because it’s not tied to any exterior circumstance.
When we press into our design and pour out for the Kingdom, it fills us up instead of draining us. Isaiah 58:10-11 says, “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.” (NLT). Even when we are hopeless and feel dried up, we will be lights shining to those around us and we will be well-watered and a well for others. How cool is that?
Unfortunately, the Bible does not promise us a life of ease. There will be trials. There will be hardships. There will be tribulations. The bottom line is that hopelessness is not an “if” scenario but a “when” scenario. So, when you feel defeat setting in around you, take heart, knowing that nothing can cut you off from God’s ever-pursuing love. And take heart knowing that circumstances do not dictate God’s call on your life; they are dictated by the loving Father of the universe who calls us his children.
Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
Proverbs 23:18