How can I hope in God when my life is turned upside down?

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Psalm 43:5 "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God.”

People who come to Court Referral classes often have a wake-up call, and part of what I try to do is help them see how much better their lives could be. One of the exercises I do is to take the average cost of their fines and other charge-related expenses and ask them what they would do with that money “in a perfect world.”

“Mary” sat in my class, shoulders slumped, and her discouragement was almost a cloud around her. So I wasn’t surprised when she said, “That’s never going to happen.” When I reminded her she had paid that amount of money, she told me she would never again see that much money…certainly not at one time. When I asked her what she would dream of doing if she dared to dream, she shook her head and answered, “I ain’t got no dreams.”

Life can do that to us, can’t it? Take away our dreams, I mean. Whether you’re someone who is battling an addiction or that one who loves someone who’s fighting that battle, it’s a tough path. Those aren’t the only paths that are tough either. I could name others, and tough paths take their toll on us. In fact, the Scriptures say, “where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Prov 29:18)

I know this world is temporary as are the problems that are breaking our hearts today. But thinking about the “sweet bye and bye” isn’t always comforting in the “awful here and now.” Some people who follow my blog are carrying burdens I can’t even imagine, and both they and I need sometimes to see the “goodness of God in the land of the living.” (Ps 27:13)

One of the ways I see the goodness of God is by looking back. When I see how far I have come and how God met every need along the way, I’m encouraged to try for one more day. Just as things are closer than they appear in a rear-view mirror, God was closer than He appeared back then. When I thought I couldn’t face one more day, I would wake up in the morning with strength to do it. And I remember He didn’t give me strength for the week. He gave me strength for the day.

Another way I see the goodness of God is by looking around. As heavy as my burdens are sometimes, it only takes a few minutes of seeing the pain of others to know how blessed I am. Our church’s Heart2Home Ministry takes me into people’s homes during the hard times in their lives…sickness, death, and every other crisis you can imagine. What I consistently find is that God is enabling them to do the impossible and to find hope and help in Him.

Looking back and looking around can give me the confidence to look ahead and say with confidence, “I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." (Ps 43:5) I’m not talking about “Name it and claim it,” and I’m not talking about trying to control anyone else’s behavior. What I’m saying is that God’s got this…whatever “this” is. Because of that fact alone, there is hope. And as long as there is hope, we have a reason to rejoice.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, refused to quit and chose instead to hope in God?