The Importance of Hope

Vol 2 No 20 THEO'S DEVOS 052108

Job 11:18 You will have courage because you will have hope. You will be protected and will rest in safety.

They say you can go weeks without food and days without water but not a minute without hope. I believe that and fully understand why so many people get depressed in this world. It is very easy to think of your life as being hopeless but there is no valid reason for those feelings. As I have mentioned before, feelings are very misleading. I am not always sure where they come from but they can lead you around as though you had a nose ring. They can wash over you like a wave at the seashore and engulf you with dread. I believe that this is a way that Satan has to confuse and misguide us. He, apparently, can send these feeling along to us and God allows them to affect us in order to test us.

One thing seems clear and that is that Satan will always try to confuse us by placing doubt in our minds. Often the feeling of dread has no center of attention. We can't always put our finger on exactly what is causing these feelings but they have a way of stopping our spiritual progress. They keep us from growing and can paralyze us spiritually.

God, on the other hand, guides us in clear ways. We take a step and He confirms it. We know what He wants us to do and, in faith, we do it. God usually does not confirm our steps until we take them and that is where the devil can win. He will try to keep us from taking any step of faith, any step of growth. He will dish up all kinds of reasons that seem plausible but have the same result: nothing happens. You see Satan doesn't necessarily want you to do bad things. That would be fine with him but he will settle with you just doing nothing at all. Just don't trust God for anything. Stay the way you are and never get any stronger. Satan is happy with that but you won't be.

Christians can find themselves years into their faith and no closer to God than when they first became Christians because they just sat there. They never read the Bible, never got close to any other growing Christians, hardly ever spoke to God in prayer and then wonder why they don't feel as though He was close by. Faith needs to be cultivated. It just doesn't get stronger on it own. And when our faith does not grow, our hope diminishes. Hope is tied to faith. Without faith there is nothing much to hope for. Hope in the future demands faith in the One who holds that future. God loves you, He will guide you and care for you but you simply cannot appropriate any of that without faith and, if you don't have those things in your heart and mind, you can easily lose hope.

On the other hand if, by faith, you understand how much God loves you; if you believe that He is guiding you and will take you into a bright and wonderful future, you have much to hope for. Your hope level can stay high in spite of any feeling of dread that Satan may throw at you and he certainly will. I have been a Christian for many years and most of them in the professional ministry and I can tell you that Satan has, and still, throws feelings of dread at me. Satan has done his best to knock me down and nullify anything good that God has done through me. If it weren't for faith in God and His strength, I would have never been able to do anything for Him. Right now I am trusting Him for guidance and after all these years never expected to need Him as much as I do right now. But He has been good to me even when others have not, even when the church let me down, so it is easy to trust Him although I may not trust many others. I have come to understand what Job meant when he said: “Though He slay me I will trust Him.” I fully understand that without faith my hope would dissipate so I must hold to that faith at all costs. It is all we have.
I pray that you can exercise whatever faith you have and by that see it grow so your hope will be strong and that will bring joy or confidence in the future. I will continue to pray for you and trust that my faith in Him and you will help your faith. If we all pray for each other there is no telling what might happen. I can't wait to see what that is. Please let me know if there is anything specifically I can pray for. I promise you that I will gladly add your requests to my list. Please do not minimize the importance of prayer. At times it is all we have but it is a mighty force and can accomplish great things because the One we pray to is the Almighty God who cares for us.

May He bless you this week. Thank you for reading Theo's Devos. I hope they encourage you.

Theo


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