When All Hope Seems Lost
We all face challenges and hardships. These challenges and hardships often overwhelm us. We feel alone and forgotten, as if nobody cares. We feel as if there is no way out of the troubles and problems we are facing. We wonder whether God sees our despair and anguish or hears our cries. When this happens, hopelessness can so easily set in, causing us to become fixated on the problem rather than on the only One who can save us, Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus came to save us so that we can be born again into a living hope. A hope that does not disappoint. Romans 5:3-5 (NLT) says,
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are not exempt from hardships. In fact, Jesus told His disciples that they would face challenges and trouble in this world, but that they should look to Him, because He has overcome the world. This is what He says in John 16:33 (NIV):
“‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’”
Our challenges and hardships will sometimes seem insurmountable, but Jesus commands us to “take heart.” To “Take heart” means to gain courage or confidence. To have joyful hope because we know our hope is in Christ, who is the only one who can deliver us from all our troubles.
Psalm 34:17-19 (NIV) says:
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”
This is what Corrie ten Boom found during the Second World War. Corrie ten Boom became prisoner number 66730 when she, along with her sister, was sent to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp in 1944 for harbouring Jews. When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, they captured the Jews and sent them to concentration camps. During this time, Corrie and her family hid Jews in their home to protect them from the Nazis. They were, however, betrayed and sent to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. Despite the hardships and troubles of the concentration camp, they continued to hope in God for their release from the dark and gloomy place they found themselves in. This same hope is what they taught their fellow prisoners. Betsie, however, died a few months after they arrived at Ravensbrück. Betsy had indeed been released from the prison, not into freedom here on earth, but into the loving arms of her Saviour.
A few days after Betsie’s death, Corrie was given a certificate of discharge, which she later discovered was wrongfully issued to her. It seemed that someone had made a clerical error, resulting in her release.
After her release and physical recovery from her time in prison, she started her international ministry and became, as she called herself, “A tramp for the Lord.” She travelled the world, encouraging people with the lessons she had learned about forgiveness and obedience, as well as the importance of placing our hope in the Lord only. She once said,
“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”
In the concentration camp, when all hope seemed lost, Corrie ten Boom knew that Christ was, in fact, all she had. She clung to her Lord and Saviour, Jesus, the only One who could save her from the cruelty of her captors. The only One who could give her joyful hope.
We can have that same living and joyful hope as she had when she faced the many challenges and hardships in the concentration camp. Christ, our only hope, will not disappoint. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, is with us in our trials and suffering. He hears us when we cry out to Him. He is listening and ready to rescue us. He truly is close to the broken-hearted and to those whose spirits are crushed. He is more than able to deliver us out of all our troubles. Nothing is too difficult for Him.
“Every day I put hope on the line. I don’t know one thing about the future. I don’t know what the next hour will hold. There may be sickness, accident, personal or world catastrophe. Before this day is over I may have to deal with death, pain, loss, rejection. I don’t know what the future holds for me, for those I love, for my nation, for this world. Still, despite my ignorance and surrounded by tinny optimists and cowardly pessimists, I say that God will accomplish his will, and I cheerfully persist in living in the hope that nothing will separate me from Christ’s love.”
Eugene H. Peterson, Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best
Reflection
Will you take time to go to the Lord Jesus with your challenges and hardships? Will you put your hope in Him alone and wait for Him to save you out of all your troubles?
Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, that You see me and hear my desperate cries. You see my broken heart and crushed spirit. Lord Jesus, help me to come to your throne of grace so that I may fix my eyes on You and not my problems. Deliver me from the challenges and hardships I am facing. Lord, I trust you alone and pray for Your peace and joyful hope. In Jesus’ name, amen.
