Heartsick

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick" 

Prov. 13:12

To live a life without hope sounds incredibly scary to me.  I cannot imagine facing the hard times of life without knowing that my God is in control and is working all things out for a greater plan.  I have really been working through this lately as a friend of mine recently had a miscarriage.  Now this is not something I have ever had to endure but as a mom of five, I can begin to imagine the pain and hurt that comes with losing your precious baby.  What has been so hard to watch her deal with is the lack of hope.  She does not believe in heaven.  She believes in God but she does not profess to follow Christ.  I have watched her struggle with the hurt and anger and it has been incredibly painful because I cannot comfort her with truth.

As Christians hope plays an important role in our lives. Hope brings us comfort.  It puts our heart and minds at rest during troubling times. It is a reassurance that there is so much more to this life.  On the other hand, when our lives lack hope, we become overwhelmed with the uncertainty of what will happen next.  During the course of the past few years of my own life there were days when I felt hopeless.  I wanted to give up.  I doubted God’s goodness and presence.  It was as if I were standing at the end of a very dark tunnel with no glimpse of light in sight.  I felt trapped and my entire situation felt overwhelmingly bleak but thankfully deep inside my heart there was a small light attempting to penetrate the darkness that wanted to swallow me whole.  That small light was shining drawing me close. That small light was Christ.  He was there offering me hope and wanting me to trust Him through that dark tunnel.  He was asking me to place all of my cares down at His feet and trust Him with it all.  He became my strength when I was too tired to move ahead any further.  He became my peace when the enemy worked so hard to create turmoil within my life.  He became my comfort when the pain was too much to endure.  He WAS my light in that incredibly dark tunnel. He gave me a hope to keep on moving no matter how dark and ugly the battle became.

How does one move through hard times without hope? Without Christ?  I am so incredibly thankful that I do not have to live life without knowing. I wish I could give my friend the hope that I have but all I can do is offer her the Truth of His word and pray that God use my words to penetrate her heart so that she can see the light in her darkness. I will strive to live a life that is a reflection of His love, grace and hope. God is sovereign and He knew that I would one day be able to share my story and help someone else know Him.  He knew I would have this friend and He placed me in her path for this very season. My prayer is that I successfully live out a life that draws her to Him so that she will not have to live a life without hope.  Jesus is our hope.  Just reach out to Him and allow Him to penetrate the dark.  

"So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls."

Hebrews 6:18-19b