Hope

Hope is powerful. With hope a person can endure anything. The most miserable people I can think of are people who have no hope. So what are we to do for those who have lost hope, how are we to help them? Let them see you are weak and that you struggle with things to. Let them see you are not perfect and neither is your life's circumstances. To often christians are scared to let people see them weak when we ought to be thankful for the weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). People tend to listen to other people they can relate to, people who share similar experiences in life. I see so many people acting as if "life" just hasn't ever happened to them, as if they have never had circumstances so hard it really challenged their faith. So if we hide from our weaknesses and we hide them from others we essentially hide the help we possibly could give others. We are to be like Christ and though Christ is God He took on the likeness of sinful flesh becoming "weak" in the sense that He was like us, having to depend totally on the Father by faith(Romans 8:3). Christ didn't enjoy everything He faced but He always endured, especially the cross for the joy that was set before Him(Hebrews 12:2). You see life is not always "fun" or easy but it is always worth it. We face many sorrows here and often are left to wonder why for a season. Some things we understand in time some things we never fully understand but through Christ they are used to make us more like Him. What we need to do is take all our weakness which weights us down like burdens and controls our steps like a heavy yoke and give them to Jesus Christ. But how? First if you are lost you must be born-again and this is ONLY possible through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. If the Holy Spirit is drawing you then repent (turn) from sin, wickedness, and mostly unbelief. Trust Christ is all you need to be saved, that He not only came and lived a sinless life but that His sacrifice on the cross was/is sufficient for you. By His death He took the penalty you deserve which is eternal death and by His resurrection He sealed eternal life for all who by faith believe (trust) Him. Why is this important? Because Jesus is all the hope we need but not only that, Jesus is the only real hope we have in this life and the life to come. If you love God and have been born again by the mercy and grace of God then you can have hope that God will work all things together for good for you
(Romans 8:28). Remember this though, contrary to popular belief God WILL allow more than you can handle to be put on you. He allows it so you must trust in Him, so you will realize that your sufficiency is in His strength not your own. God is not a rewarder of the strong but those who diligently seek Him(Hebrews 11:6). It is through these trials that our faith is tried which works our patience and when it is complete we are left lacking nothing(James1:4). Those of you who are struggling with hopelessness I know from experience that it hurts but through Christ you can have REAL hope, real peace, and real joy. You will have trials and tribulations, I'm not trying to promote a gospel that doesn't exist but the true Gospel that is honest with us about what we really are without Christ(Romans 3:23), the trials we will face and the promise of God who believes the testimony of Christ(John 16:33). What I want you to take away from this is that even though you are weak in all sorts of ways it is for a purpose and that purpose is for the glory of Christ to be seen in your life. Let others see your weakness but in seeing your weakness let them see where you get the strength to carry on, let them see Jesus in your life and hear Jesus in your words.