Hope in Hard Times

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise

Him, the help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 42:4-5, 11

If you live long enough, and it doesn’t take very long, it is quite possible, nay probable, that you will have times of

discouragement. I will put myself out there and say that about the last ten years of my life have been very trying

to say the least, and I have on numerous occasions been disappointed, discouraged, and even depressed. I don’t

say that as a badge of honor, but I do say that to be honest with you and to recognize that following Christ doesn’t

always mean that every day or season will be bright and brilliant. God may lead us through some dark passages

and we do others and ourselves a great disservice when we only slap them on the back and say, “Pick yourself up.

Stop being so down.” Rather than trying to put them in our shoes, we must lovingly place ourselves in theirs. God

may lead us through some hard things that will make us question so much and yet this does not mean He has

ceased to love us; in fact, hard as it is for me to admit at times, some of the dark passages were both necessary

for me and indicative of His love.

Part of growing and changing as a Christian involves what we might consider invasive surgery. There are things in

each of us that cannot remain but that will not easily be remedied. Difficulty that is prolonged and that challenges

our beliefs and so forth is many times one of those signs you’re not in the waiting room but the operating room.

As boring as a hospital may be, sitting in that quiet and sterile waiting room while some show you could care less

about is playing off in the corner while twenty strangers sit there, it’s still a preferable place to be to the operating

room as a patient. As we head to the operating room, our hearts may fill with dread: Will it hurt? Will I make it?

What will my future look like? What about my family? What if…?

God may lead us through times that remedy things in us that we may not immediately recognize were

problematic. I think that’s why some of us don’t want to go to the doctor, honestly; if I’m not well, I’d rather not

know. Not everyone has that thought, but yes, plenty do, as though we didn’t have heart issues until we saw the

doctor; we had no cavities until the dentist told us we had ten; you get the picture. While I think Jesus is referring

to unbelief when speaking about the darkness hating the light in John 3:19-21, I think in a broader sense even as

Christians, sometimes we carry that notion that we’re not so bad or in need of fixing until God reveals it, so we’d

rather not know.

Let me move on, and focus in on the verses for today, though: David is looking at himself in times of distress,

feeling down as he just does not have it in him to be ignited with exuberant praise, and he’s honest with himself.

What does he tell himself in what may very well be a refining time of his life? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise

Him. David is reminding himself that while he is grasping and struggling to breathe, crawling through his adversity

and in a dark place of life, it won’t always be that way. David will yet praise Him. Why? God is the help of his

countenance. David trusts in God and is entrusting his life to Him.

David was preaching to himself what we must preach to ourselves, too: it may be hard right now, and I may not

feel close to God. I may feel like my prayers are unheard and life feels like all I’m hearing is crickets chirping. I may

not feel I have much more to give, but God will sustain me and God will not let me be in this place forever. You

see, a discouraged and depressed outlook sees a dark season and couples that with a negative interpretation,

losing hope that things are ever going to change. When I am like this, I preach despair to my heart, and I’m one of

the worst friends I could be to myself. In sinful pride, I begin telling myself that this is how God feels about me,

too. That’s not helpful, that’s not right, and that’s not gracious whatsoever. Hear me out: give yourself grace. If

you’d never tell someone some of the things you say to yourself, stop being a bad friend to yourself. Your heart

and mine need Bible, not bashing. While the Bible calls us to be gracious to others, it never instructs us to skip

ourselves.

Maybe you’re in a good place today, and I am thankful for that if that’s where you are. If you aren’t, do yourself

this favor today: preach hope to your heart. I may not be in a harmonious place within today, but I will be,

because of God. I will let Him do His work on me, whether that means the operating room or the waiting room,

the playground or the prison. Hold forth hope and be brave in Jesus.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All

rights reserved.