Who Feels Hopeless

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

IN 2017, JARED AND I MOVED our family to California. God had directed us there to serve at a church in the heart of Los Angeles. It was an adventure, and it was fun, but we were there only two years before the Lord led us to Tennessee. Two years later, the Lord led us back home to Oklahoma.

We had sold the beautiful house we’d built when our babies were young just before we left for California. When we returned to our small hometown, I wished I could have it back. The truth is, I didn’t want the house back; I wanted the life I’d had before I left.

I wanted the heart full of hope and possibilities. I wanted the bank account that didn’t show evidence of trusting the Lord all the way down to zero. I wanted the secure friendships and outlook that anything was possible. And despite the Lord providing us with a wonderful place to stay until we could buy our own home, I just wanted a house that was fully mine again.

I prayed for the Lord to make a way for us to have a house, but there just weren’t any on the market, and we didn’t have the finances on paper to be approved. Soon it had been five years since we had owned a home. It had been five years of wondering where we’d eventually settle.

It felt hopeless.

But the Lord was working out all the details. Today, only a year after returning to our small town, we have a house that is ours again. The Lord made a way behind the scenes, and despite all my feelings of hopelessness, He was setting the answer into motion.

Though my situation wasn’t as dramatic as the apostle Paul’s, we can see how God was also at work while Paul was a prisoner of Rome on a journey to be tried before Caesar. As Paul and his companions traveled by ship, they encountered a terrible storm: “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.” The good news is that even though the ship was destroyed, no lives were lost, and a healing revival broke out on the remote island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea where they made landfall. What seemed to be hopeless was the door to a great blessing for many, even though Paul had to endure the storm to bring it to them.

Momma, hopelessness can rise in our hearts when, like Paul, we feel surrounded by darkness as the storms of life rage on. The men on the ship with Paul did all they could to save their vessel, just as you have done everything you can think of to save your family from this trouble. But trust this: The Lord is working even now on your behalf. Hope rides even on stormy seas. He is making a way, not just for you, but for all those on the boat with you.

Tonight we pray for the momma who feels hopeless. Lord, maybe no one knows how she feels. Maybe she hasn’t even admitted it to herself. It could be her mothering or her marriage or her finances or just a little bit of everything. She’s in a place that feels closed in and as if it will never resolve. But, Lord, You change everything with just a word or a moment in Your presence. Tonight we ask You to step into this momma’s situation. Speak hope to her heart. Tell her what You see. And most importantly, tell her You see her. Give her peace and rest.

We ask in Jesus’s name, amen.

Jesus, hope of the hopeless, please help me with this: