Hopeful

Hopeful

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.

“HOW WAS YOUR CONVERSATION?” Aaron asked, knowing my friend and I had indulged in a luxurious, two-hour phone call while her toddler napped the day before.

I paused, searching for the words to adequately describe our wide-ranging conversation around whether the deep divisions in our country and in our faith community could ever be healed. We’d hung up feeling overwhelmingly sad, which was an anomaly for us and for our normal conversations.

“I don’t know. It was really good to catch up, but life feels so heavy right now, and we are both struggling,” I admitted, my shoulders sagging in defeat.

Despair. The word came to me hours later as I folded socks. The hopeless, no-way-forward, unnavigable, unfixable, in-over-my-head feeling threatening to pull me under and swallow me whole was despair. Jesus, what do I do with this? I prayed, gathering together and setting aside the unmatched solos, hoping their match was in the next load. I can’t change what is happening in my country and the church, so how do I navigate this?

Despair does not come from God. Ever. And if I allow it, despair will infect me, spreading through my thoughts and ratcheting up stress, fear, and anxiety, dictating my actions from a place of fear instead of hope. Despair wants to consume us, rendering us ineffective members of God’s Kingdom at best, and, at our worst, people who inflict damage on the reputation of Jesus-followers.

We fight despair with hope, reminding ourselves to fix our minds on heaven rather than focusing on circumstances around us (see Colossians 3:2). Replacing doomscrolling social media posts with prayer is a great first step toward being hopeful rather than despairing.

God is not surprised when the world is topsy-turvy, and some of his best work takes place in the midst of chaos. When confronted with seemingly overwhelming odds, I’m learning to fight against despair by whispering to God, What good things are you doing during this hard time? In what new ways are you building your Kingdom? Use me!

Lord, help us keep our eyes on you, and deploy us as hope-bringers when circumstances are hard and despair looms. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: Pick three Scriptures that fill you with hope, and meditate on those Scriptures when you feel despair looming. Then ask God for an assignment as a hope-bringer.