Without Hope but Never Hopeless

It's hopeless. Have you ever thought that? Or worse, He's hopeless or She's hopeless. We can all get discouraged, can't we? Sometimes, the more we want a thing --even a good thing, the more consumed and miserable we get when it doesn't come to pass. Our hearts long to see someone healed or recovered, but in the meantime, we grow snarky or pushy; we lash out. The burden of wanting has overtaken our spirit, and we lose hope. 

Well, just the other evening, a friend and I were talking about some of the astonishing --and not in a good way --things we see going on in our nation. The unbelievable things people are willing to do, the destructive and disturbing things people believe. As we talked, the phrase "without hope," came to mind. These people are without hope, grasping at straws, doing unthinkable things to save themselves because they see no other way out. In the most extreme cases, they are killing their babies, killing themselves, killing off the person God designed them to be with hormones, surgeries, and delusions. They are killing others with their words and killing in the literal fashion as well. Something within them cries out, Just make it stop! And they believe that by stifling the person or situation or thing before their eyes, their agony will be stopped. They do not see a resolution, do not trust a greater Being to take them through it; they are without hope. Is their hopelessness any different from the hopelessness of those praying they will find a way out of the darkness?

Though they are without hope, they are not hopeless. And we should not be either.

The Bible talks about being without hope. Ephesians 2:12 (ESV) says,

Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ... having no hope and without God in the world. 

There was a time in every Christian's life when we did not belong to Christ. Because of God's grace, by His Spirit, in His time, we were called and drawn to Him that we might, through Christ, be redeemed and adopted. It is in Christ, that we now have hope. This scenario has played out for each and every person who has come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and it will be true of anyone who will one day come to know Him. Those people for whom we have spent years praying or those we stand back watching with a morbid fascination or outright disgust (though we should be praying), those people or situations over which we have thrown up our hands in frustration --none of these is a lost cause, none of these is hopeless in the sense of being written off or abandoned. We should not lose hope over people still with us, people God created in His image who still have opportunity to know Him. We should not lose hope over matters God has not declared concluded. We should not lose hope for it is our hope that stands in the gap when these situations and these dear ones are without hope! 

Our hope in Jesus Christ leads the charge, brings justice to an unjust world, grieves and encourages, feeds the sick and clothes the poor, votes in a godly way, lifts the names and faces of those in need of a Savior before the Lord of lords, lights the darkness, and ministers in ways that reconcile our loved ones and their troubles to God through Christ. Jesus, our Hope, has promised to never leave His people or forsake them; therefore, we cannot be without hope! We should never relinquish that hope, succumb to hopelessness, based on the natural evidence, the things we perceive with our senses. Scripture tells us our battles are spiritual, fought on our knees before the throne of God, strengthened by fasting and ratified by our obedience. And though the battle seems to rage forever, our Mighty Warrior who saves is eternal and eternally sovereign; He will outlive and outlast any strife that exists on earth. He says who or what is hopeless, and it is said in His time and by His authority alone. 

Photo courtesy Steven Ganski, Jr.