America has a kind of crisis of which many are unaware. It is a crisis of hope! A stark reminder of this is the fact that
about 40,000 people take their own life each year in America, a figure that is probably
low, due to the fact that some suicides are reported as ‘death from natural
causes.’ Why is the dark of despair
overtaking so many in this country? There is no single cause, to be sure. There
is a general loss of faith that contributes to the sense of the meaninglessness
of life. The population is aging and the elderly are particularly susceptible
to loneliness and despair. Families are more fractured now than they used to be
and family support is a key to surviving times of turbulence in emotional and
mental health.
In Christ, we find a
blessing of hope, a gift of God to us who live in this world that has so
many sorrows and disappointments. In the
opening of his letter to Christians, Peter writes this wonderful passage of
promise. "Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and
into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade— kept in heaven for
you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the
salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly
rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all
kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold,
which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result
in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:3-7, NIV)
The promise of eternal life, of a glorious existence in the
Presence of God, is our living
hope! This hope cannot be stolen
from us for we are protected by the strength of God, which we own by faith. "Yes,"
Peter, acknowledges, "there will be grief and trials along the way. But even these are reasons for
hopefulness. They are refining our
relationship with Jesus and causing those who see us standing strong to realize
that Jesus Christ is worthy of praise!"
Out of this gift of faith, comes an amazing result. "Though
you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious,
inexpressible joy." (1 Peter 1:8, NLT)
From personal experience, I know how hard it can be to work
through the darkness of a time of depression. 25 years ago, I experienced an awful time when I felt there
was no reason for a new day to dawn. For
several months, I awakened each morning
with an awful sense of futility shrouding every thought. The question - 'why go on living?’ was never
far from my conscious thoughts. There were two faint glimmers of light that
flickered into that dark time - the promises of God and the love of my
family. I clung, desperately to the
truth of Scripture, though a part of my mind insisted that I was unworthy -
that others might experience His loving grace - but not me. My family held onto me, loving me when I
was silent, patiently waiting for their husband and father to reappear. I am very thankful for the wise intervention
of professionals who came alongside of me and helped me find my way out of that
pit. Were my brain chemicals out of balance? Was it a spiritual attack waged by
Hell to destroy me, or the result of disappointment in life? Probably there is some combination of those
factors, but I experienced it as a time of awful darkness. Truly, looking back, I thank God for allowing me to walk that
road, for it changed me for the better,
in every way. If you are struggling with real depression, don’t remain silent!
You don’t have to experience depression to feel a loss of
hope. Losing one’s job, a failure of a marriage, the death of someone we love, or
chronic illness can wear us down and steal the sunshine from the sky. In those
times, we must renew hope in the Lord! Paul overcame the difficulties of his
life with this kind of faith. He
declared, "If God is on our side,
can anyone be against us? God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him
for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else?"
(Romans 8:31-32, CEV)
Are you fighting with despair? Make the choice that Moses made - "He chose to share the oppression of God’s
people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was
better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for
he was looking ahead to his great reward." (Hebrews 11:25-26, NLT)
Our word from the Word this Monday morning points us to our
Great Example! Learn from the Lord Jesus "who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it.
Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in
and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame,
whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When
you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by
item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot
adrenaline into your souls! " (Hebrews 12:2-3, The Message)
God’s gift to us is
JOY. May we receive it by faith.
__________
Bless the Lord O my
soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy
name
The sun comes up it's
a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your
song again
Whatever may pass and
whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when
the evening comes
You're rich in love
and You're slow to anger
Your name is great and
Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I
will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons
for my heart to find
And on that day when
my strength is failing
The end draws near and
my time has come
Still my soul will
sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and
then forevermore
Worship Your holy name
Lord I'll worship Your
holy name
Jonas Myrin | Matt Redman
© 2011 Atlas Mountain Songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG
Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
CCLI License # 810055
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