Believers are called to go against the grain. We are called to dare to believe in the face of dismay and hopelessness. Where this world reaches a terminal point of potential, believers are not halted but empowered to proceed. Rom 15:13 says may the God of all hope fill you with joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Hope is a gasoline for faith. It fuels it so that we may proceed to remain tethered through faith and not be tossed back and forth. Paul says, “I know in whom I have believed” (2Tim1:12). Romans 4 says of Abraham that he hoped against hope. He looked at his physical body and he refused to succumb to discouragement and remained steadfast. Such a place is available for the one who hopes in the Lord. For the believer, there exists a cushion of hope in the center of hopelessness. It is written; light dawns in the dark for the upright, for the gracious, merciful and righteous (Psa 112:4)
Benefits of hoping against hope
⦁ Hope is like oxygen to the lungs of the believer. It is life giving
⦁ It provides buoyancy so that we are not swallowed up by tribulation and adversity.
⦁ It maintains health. It is a shield against disease and health complications that accompanies hopelessness such as migraines, tension in the shoulders, stress, depression etc.
⦁ It fortifies the resolve to live despite facing adversity
⦁ It shields us from destruction that befalls the hopeless such as poor decision making due to desperation.
⦁ It facilitates dependency on the Lord
⦁ It permits us to be sustained by the Lord
⦁ It fortifies our faith, ensuring that we please the Lord for without faith it is impossible to please Him
⦁ It shields us from bitterness
⦁ It strengthens us to proceed with our walk of faith despite opposition
⦁ It helps us to assist others even while our own trial persists. We see this in the life of Joseph. Though he was in prison, he interpreted dreams for the cup-bearer and chief baker (Gen 40)
⦁ It maintains joy
⦁ It protects us from a hardened heart
⦁ We engage in warfare when we have hope and the enemy loses the battle. His arrows of hopelessness fall to penetrate our heart.
⦁ Hope permits the Lord to be with us in the valley and reveal Himself. It is in the trenches of hopelessness that hope enlightens our eyes to see the truth concerning the Lord in light of the hopelessness. Hopelessness opens the door to lies that blame the Lord.
⦁ Those that see the Lord in hopelessness through the eyes of hope, tend to have faith that is not easily shaken. It is the believer who rarely faces hopelessness that tends to have weak faith
⦁ Hope strengthens us to face future adversity boldly because we have seen the Lord in the valley.
⦁ It helps us to proceed seeking the Lord’s face and maintain our relationship with Him
⦁ Hope positions us to obtain the promises of God. It aids us in staying and proceeding in position until we obtain the promise.I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living( Psa 27:13)
How do we have hope again when we have lost it and hope deferred has made our heart sick
⦁ Read the Word.As faith comes by hearing the Word of God, our hope is subsequently reinflated
⦁ Be candid with the Lord regarding how you feel
⦁ Encourage your soul. Why are you cast down oh my soul? Hope in the Lord for I will yet praise him who is my Lord and the health of my countenance(Psa 42:11). Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits (Psa 103) The soul is learning to walk with the Lord and will thus put a spanner in our wheels of hope and faith.
⦁ Only say what the Lord has said in his word. This will enable the angels to perform the word on your behalf. You will continue to walk with the Lord in agreement for can two walk together lest they be agreed (Amos 3:3)
⦁ Cry out to the Lord, make supplications unto Him. Cleave to Him. “Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man” (Psa 71:4)
⦁ Let God be your hope, hope on Him. “For you are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth” (Psa 71:5)
⦁ Praise the Lord and offer thanksgiving. “Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with your gory all the day”. (Psa 71:8)
⦁ Let your hope flow like a never ending stream. “But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more” (Psa 71:14)
⦁ Trust that the Lord will deliver you from your tribulation “You who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth”(Psa 71:20)
⦁ Do not permit hopelessness to mar the Lord’s character in your eyes. Proceed to believe in His goodness and faithfulness. “Also with the lute I will praise You- and your faithfulness, O my God! To you I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. (Psa 71:22)
Hopelessness means we have been taken captive by the enemy. We are in captivity and we need to escape. The bible says give no place or foothold for the enemy to work. Well, hopelessness gives him precisely that. We open a crack in the door for him. The only way out is through having hope in the Lord again. There are times where having hope again makes our stomach churn. Hope deferred indeed makes the heart sick but if you look at the situation with the eyes of the spirit, you will see that hopelessness is a profound liability. It befriends the enemy and gives him leverage. It takes a renewed mind to walk with the Lord, we have to have this set of eyes to truly walk in His victory.
Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave as when one breaks and plows the earth but my eyes are on you God the Lord..(Psa 141:7-8). In hopelessness, we are required to have our gaze on Him again. This will permit His light to dissolve the cataract of lies that have formed over our eyes, consequently hindering us from seeing the truth concerning our Lord. Sometimes the Lord permits us to reach a state of utter hopelessness so that we may learn to depend on Him not ourselves(2Cor 1:8-9). My heart and flesh may fail but God is the strength of my life and my portion forever (Psa 73:26) However, this type of hopelessness is one that transitions to greater hope and faith in God. The Lord permitted Daniel to face hopelessness but he proceeded to hope against hope, praying three times daily. He was thrown in the den of lions but he was not harmed. Hope moves us from the realm of the flesh to the spirit. This means that we fight from a different battle field. The battlefield of the flesh makes us susceptible to the enemy attacking our soul. He can attack our mind, will or emotions and our flesh will feel the effect.This will slow us down tremendously and we will enter a quicksand of dismay. However, when we walk in the spirit we stand on the Word of God. We rebut and refute the adversary’s lies with “it is written”. When we stand with the Lord then “submit yourself to God,resist the devil and he will flee is our portion.