WHEN YOU LOSE HOPE

When we lose hope, life feels like it is over. Whenever we are faced with the challenge of living through a difficult tragedy or loss,  it takes everything we have to just face tomorrow. To somehow see how life can possibly work now that our plans are shattered, or when a relationship has ended. It makes starting over seem like an overwhelming impossibility. In that winter of the soul, we deeply feel the loss of hope.

We know that we cannot live in the shadow of past regrets, but we can be tempted to. We can and must find ways to live in today's new beginning. Starting anything over is no easy task. To have the courage and confidence to create a new beginning calls upon every inner resource that we possess.

Life is Painful when you Lose Hope

Sometimes, circumstances happen that we have no control over, yet we have to live with the impact of the consequences nonetheless. Our hope might have been placed in someone or something that went wrong, or has come to an end; what we had hoped would happen is suddenly laying at our feet in broken pieces.

When you lose Hope you must not give up

It just doesn't seem fair to have your heart broken, to lose a cherished family member, or find that recent financial problems have led to seeing one's home foreclosed upon. Every piece of our life is connected to another piece of our life. It is devastating to lose hope that nothing will ever turn out like we had dreamed. We must find the raw courage to go on. In reality... yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here yet, so we must find a way to live for today. 

When you lose Hope you must allow yourself time to Heal

It is no easy thing to pretend it just doesn't matter to have lost something precious that was important or meaningful in your life. To wake up each morning and put on the happy face, the serious face, or it really doesn't matter face, only works for a little while. All too soon you find yourself time drifting back to the past, lost in a sea of regret, or caught up in the worries of tomorrow, that just leaves you broken once again. You must allow yourself time to heal.

It can be so difficult to move on when you cannot see a way to rebuild a shattered dream. In truth, we may just have to let that dream go. We will need to give the pieces to God, and seek His will for whatever is to come. The Will of God never leads you where the Grace of God cannot keep you.

Only a life with Jesus Christ can give us the wondrous capacity to live in the present, while being painfully grieved with a tragedy that has crushed our hopes. This is specially so when we are filled with anxious uncertainties about the future. How is that possible? 

What did Jesus do with men who had Lost Hope?

One day two disciples of Jesus Christ were walking along the Road to the city of Emmaus, about 7 miles from Jerusalem. Their hearts were overwhelmed with events that had taken place just a few days before. Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, had been crucified, and was dead and buried in a tomb in Jerusalem. With that tragedy, so were their hopes and dreams. Time had literally stopped for these disciples.

“Now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.”  Luke 24:13-14.  They desperately needed some way  to make sense of what had happened.

Jesus drew near and walked with them

“As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing Him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” Luke 24:15-18

Jesus encouraged them to verbalize the reason for their lost hope

Jesus Christ stepped into real time as it was happening in the present, and met with two confused, hurting disciples. Sometimes we fail to remember that God reaches out to us at the point of our deepest felt need.

Even though He already knew, He wanted to have them express their own perspective on what was specifically troubling them. “What things?”  Luke 24:19a

Jesus allowed them to share what was heaviest on their hearts

We can so easily cut people off and give eloquent advice, applicable verses from the Bible and even offer to pray for hurting people, but we far too seldom are patient enough to allow them to share the depth of their heartbreak or the impact of their shattered dreams upon their lives. What a confusing time it must have been to so many people when Jesus Christ, the expected Redeemer, the Lord of Salvation, was crucified.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

 

Jesus Understands what it is like to lose Hope

"And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find His body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said He was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” Luke 24:19b-24

Jesus brought truth from the Scriptures to reach their troubled hearts

We can encourage people with poems and songs, gifts and hugs, but people only truly feel genuine comfort when God’s Word enters their troubled hearts and minds.

“He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.”  Luke 24:25-27

Jesus never pushes Himself upon us but wants us to invite Him near

“As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged Him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight.” Luke 24:28-31  

 

Jesus ignited their troubled hearts with New Hope

When people are open with God, and allow His Word to impact them, they will never be the same. The Lord is present with us and He will reveal truth to our troubled minds and catch our hearts on fire with new hope if we will allow Him to be the Lord of yesterday, today and tomorrow. He alone holds time in His hands.

“They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24: 32

One of the most difficult things to do in life is to live in the reality of the present. We need to lock into the now of our lives. We struggle most with the discipline of being present and accounted for. These disciples finally stopped in their tracks, stepped out of the past, forgot about the future, and grasped the critical reality that was theirs in the present. 

Allow God to Create New Hope Within

“They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when He broke the bread.” Luke 24:35 

When you are dismayed over the lose of hope, always remember that there is no problem in your life that God cannot help you find the answers to, so that you can begin to create a new pathway for your life.

• When your heart is heavy, remember that Jesus is near
• He will walk you through how to sort out of your concerns
• He wants you to be honest and open about your fears
• Be open to hear what the Scriptures say about your troubles
• Invite The Lord to draw near as you sort out what to do
• Ask Him to set your heart on fire, not just fix your problem
• Determine to follow through and apply what He has revealed to you

Thoughts to Ponder:

Why is it so hard to release to God what has caused so much pain in our lives?


What is it about a loss of hope that makes it so hard to trust again?

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

Take a moment to listen to this encouraging song by Plumb entitled " Broken Places"

Healing Lonliness in The Quiet Place

Throughout time, there has always been a deep loneliness and an empty void in the heart of man that is painful, and it cries out to be met. It expresses itself as a deep yearning that is palpable. So profound is the loneliness that it is often felt as an intense desperation to find someone or something to take the emptiness away. 



In reality, that aching inner yearning is the heart cry of the human soul that is searching for God. It awakens in a child like a tender flower, but sadly, through time, it is quelled, suppressed within and often silenced throughout the growing up years. 

The Progressive Silencing of Inner Loneliness

The stress and strain of life often anesthetizes this yearning and most people find a myriad of things to sooth and numb the emptiness within. If we were truly honest with ourselves, we all need significant times in our lives where we can experience the peacefulness of complete and total silence…. blessed solitude. Those precious Quiet moments are where we can make a heartfelt exploration of our deepest questions and pose them before the Almighty God of the universe. 

The Gentle Whisper of a Loving God

God is timeless, yet He pauses, draws near to our hearts, and listens to what we are truly saying when no one else is really listening. 

With the tragic falling away from God that took place with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, man turned away from God and lost his pure and unhindered communion with his Creator. Mankind has since been left with a spiritual vacuum and a profound painful emptiness.

The Lonely Place of the Human Heart

The Quiet Place within the heart of man, where he walked in the cool of the garden with God, became instead, a lonely place. Every person who has ever lived has experienced the awareness of a profound inner thirst, deep within the heart. 

We discover in life that no amount of money, fame, possessions or power can satisfy the longing within or fill the emptiness. History has proven that whatever man attempts to use to fill that void never brings permanent fulfillment or genuine inner peace. Instead, there is an acute dissatisfaction with what was thought to be the solution to fill the emptiness within. Life is lived in a lonely Shadowland, unseen by others, but seen and understood by God. 

Only God can Heal the Lonely Heart

  

There is an unquenchable thirst that only God can satisfy, for it is the expression of the homesickness of the human heart for intimate communion with God. Sometimes you can be missing one person, yet it feels that your whole world is a lonely place. Why is that? It is because unrequited love has awakened the deepest need within, and that is a longing to find the Edenic innocence, and complete serenity of The Quiet Place, where God walks with you in unhindered communion.

David described this yearning as a deep thirst:

“Just like a deer that craves streams of water, my whole being craves you, God. My whole being thirsts for God, for the living God.” Psalm 42:1-2

God Alone Understands our Loneliness

Loneliness is the unquenchable thirst that nothing on earth can satisfy.  In spite of all of the sentimental poetry, romantic novels, tender musical ballads, or passionate love stories depicted in movies, there is no earthly relational experience that can truly satisfy the innermost loneliness of the human heart. 

We all need love and the companionship of intimate others, but the deep loneliness that abides within can consume us, and is a result of our soul being homesick for an intimate relationship with God.

The Human Heart is Thirsty for God's Love

Jesus identified the deepest need within mankind as an awareness of an inner thirst that cries out to be satisfied, conveying that every person knows that they are insatiably thirsty, and void of a lasting  true happiness.

 

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”John 7:37-38

God Reaches out to Each of Us

When God awakens our thirst for Him, He does so on an individual basis. When we  become conscious that He is drawing us to Himself, we are awakened to our inestimable separation from Him, and discover that it is on the basis of His grace and mercy, saturated by His love, that we are given access to His heart.

"By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." I John 4:8-10 


God Opened the Door to His Heart

God has sought us through His Love, and bought us through His Grace, for we had a debt that we could not pay so He paid a debt that He did not owe.


"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

God Invites us to be Near His Heart

When God brings us home to Himself, and He then lets us sit by the fire, and then He fills us with His comforting and all encompassing love.

 

"Come near to God and He will come near to you..." James 4:8 

The Only Way to Heal the Lonely Heart

Our deepest need is to bask intimately in the fullness of God’s love. There is nothing apart from God that can truly fill the inner void, because it was created by God, for God, and only He can dwell there. For Adam and Eve, the Quiet place was experienced in the external beauty of the Garden of Eden, and in their continual communion with God.

Jesus Christ has provided, through the sacrifice of Himself, access to the very heart of God. The Quiet Place has now become an internal reality where we, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, provide a holy place to commune with God alone. 

"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the believer's what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

The Blessedness of The Quiet Place

The Quiet Place....a blessed time where you set aside a time of uninterrupted solitude to meet with God. Precious moments where you share with Him your love and draw strength from Him to do His will. Nothing on earth can replace what God has available for you, as you meet intimately in The Quiet Place.  

 Please take a moment to listen to this inspirational rendition of, "There is A Quiet Place" Just close your eyes and go there...

                                                               

When you Face the Unknown

From the time we first begin to explore the world into which we are born, one of the toughest lessons to learn is how to deal with the unknown. Those unpredictable, uncertain, cannot guarantee, just not sure, it could be disastrous realities that just may happen tomorrow. 

The primary reason it is so hard to deal with the unknown is that we only have a small piece of what we can ever be sure of regarding tomorrow.  It wears away at us because we cannot be absolutely certain that it will be anything that we imagine it may be. Lurking away on the periphery of your thoughts, it can work away at your peace of mind today, like a nagging toothache. 

Why it is hard to deal with the Unknown

All of life is in a continuous merge of changing circumstances. We are created to be planners, goal setters and are purpose driven by nature. Every time an event happens that can touch your life, all of the variables change with it: the how, why, who, when and where, change with it…second by second by second by second. No wonder it is so difficult dealing with the Unknown.

Facing the Challenge of the Unknown

There are certain personalities that have a harder time with the unknown. 

The more perfectionist, detailed and structured the person, the more stressful the unknown becomes. However, in The Quiet Place as we worship God, we are transformed by His presence, and soothed by His peace. When everything else seems to be falling apart, and we have no control over the details of the Unknown, we can stop striving, and begin to rest in His protective care over ourselves and our loved ones.

Yield Control of the Unknown to God

Our earlier life experiences can make it harder to deal with the unknown. The more a child lives with traumatic events, where they had no control over the tough times they experienced, the more the unknown becomes an issue. The bottom line is that we all struggle with the unknown.  The older we become, the more we realize how little control we have over anything.

^“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. “ Matthew 6:25- 34

Yield Depression and Anxiety to God

When a person struggles with depression and anxiety issues, it is harder to deal with the unknown.  The brain’s Limbic System controls our emotional responses to everything that we experience. One’s perception of the future becomes their reality. Hormonal secretions race through the body and impact mood, and motivation. What is real is what they feel, and many times it is laced with dread.

Yield your Finances and Needs to God

Today most people are living with limited financial resources. Getting downsized at work, being laid off, terminated or being unable to work due to health issues all impact how we look at the unknown. Having a greater responsibility for others to care for also makes it harder to deal with the unknown. 

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

God has a Purpose in the Unknown

Recognize that God allows hard times to teach us to humble ourselves before Him and acknowledge Him always and in all things as Lord. Like the seasons of nature, God weaves His Sovereign plan from the budding of blessings in the spring, to the storms that hit our lives in the winter of the soul.

^“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7

God has a Plan in the Unknown

Remember that God wants us to maintain a Biblical view of life, and the foundation is to be built upon seeking wisdom from the Scriptures.


Maintain a Biblical Strategy to Face the Unknown 

^“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  James 1:5

Maintain a Biblical Strategy in your Thought Patterns 
 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

 Maintain a Biblical Strategy in your Daily Planning

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.^” Proverbs 3:5-6

God Gives Peace to Face the Unknown

Rest in God’s peace and trust Him to  use the unknown future in your life as a means to be glorified through you however it turns out.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.”  Jeremiah 17:7


^“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:6

A Prayer for this moment

"Lord of all things and Creator of Heaven and earth, I thank you that you invite me to call you my Heavenly Father. You have led me to yourself through your Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, and have redeemed me through His precious Blood. The horizon of my tomorrows is unknown to me. In your infinite all knowing wisdom you have chosen to not give me access to what is ahead, for it may be too much for me to handle today. I kneel before you and release the anxiety and burden of the Unknown to your Sovereign Will."

The Lord Jesus taught us to pray...

"Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come, your Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven those who have sinned against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.”   (From Matthew 6:9-13)

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the Heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3

Take a few moments and listen to this encouraging music video by Mercy Me entitled "Word of God Speak."

Depression: Somewhere Under the Rainbow

There is the idea in life that “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” there is a paradise that is the antithesis of the profound emptiness of sorrow, grief, despair and depression. What if your life has always been experienced “Somewhere Under the Rainbow,” and you cannot find the pathway that will lead you out of this painful Shadowland? The following is a reflective glimpse of what it is like to be someone who lives in the shadow of depression.

Somewhere Under the Rainbow 

I once found myself aware of raindrops on the window pane.

There was a time I only saw the sun, and did not see the rain.

            

Rainbow tears upon my face, from eyes that fade to gray;

the colors of the world I see in shadows more each day.

When did this darkness cloak my life, I truly do not know? Is there a pathway out from Somewhere Under the Rainbow?

There was a time my eyes could see the sunbeams through the trees,

and smell the fragrance of the dawn, in days when I was free.

The who I was, became the one I lost...a little more each day,

'tis the sun I hide away from now, in corners now I lay.

My prayers are whispers I cannot speak, why.... I do not know.... will I now always live my life, Somewhere Under the Rainbow?

I touched the edge of Heaven once and heard the angels sing. I am a stranger to myself, no ledge on which to cling,

 
When was the last time I saw something grow,
Somewhere Under the Rainbow?

How is it that a lullaby dream, I dared to dream one day, was only a song and not a prayer, of come whatever may?

My troubles didn't melt like lemon drops but are cast with feet of clay;

The skies that are Somewhere Under the Rainbow,  are stormy, cold and gray.

I was diagnosed with depression, and prescribed an SSRI, 

it was supposed to make me smile, but still inside I cry;

A broken shattered rainbow dream, no pill can ever heal;

why is it that they who know me best, cannot see that my pain is real?

Some where along the way of life, I lost the me I was to be,

The Lion and the Tin Man and the Scarecrow, they only frightened me.


I was lost in shadow, and played the role of come whatever may,

there were no fields of poppies, or ruby slippers to show me the way. 

Then Jesus found me bruised and lost, down a cobbled yellow brick road,

 


I learned that there is really no way that I could carry life's load.

He said, "Take my yoke upon you, it is soul rest that you need."

"My Yoke is easy and my burden is light, all you need to do is receive."

He bore the burden of my soul, and carried it to Calvary;

Only He could free my heart from its pain and misery.

The weight of life, lost dreams and hurt, it lifted from within.

I shed each mask I'd learned to wear, and each role I'd found safety in.

I am now His and He is mine, forever it will be.

The rainbow is in my heart today and His I'll ever be.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I am not meant to Fly.

Let Bluebirds dance amidst the clouds, I shall not question why.

To bring His light to Shadowland, that is my ministry,

to find the lonely pilgrims, lost and seeking lullaby dreams.

If you struggle with depression, and live at times Under The Rainbow, you are not alone. Remember that God is as near as the whisper of your prayer. He is in The Quiet Place and He is waiting for you.

Sometimes we live for a time in Shadowland, so that we can become trail guides, to show those who dwell there, that there is a way out from Somewhere Under the Rainbow.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Please take a moment and play this video presentation of, Somewhere over the Rainbow. Push the music player on the right on pause to stop the soundtrack, and then click on the play button in the center of the world to watch the video.