What might feelings of hopelessness lead to?

Psalm 143:4I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.

Feelings of hopelessness can paralyze us with fear, which, then, produces even more hopelessness.

Job 6:11“I don’t have the strength to endure. I have nothing to live for.”

Feelings of hopelessness can drain our strength, crippling our endurance and leading us to forget our passion and our purpose. Again, that produces even more hopelessness.

Ecclesiastes 2:17So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

John 5:5-7One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

Feelings of hopelessness can create bitterness, driving a wedge between us and the people trying to encourage us. When Jesus asked the lame man if he wanted to be healed, the man didn’t answer Jesus’ question. Instead, he began complaining about how no one would help him. His bitterness blinded him to the hope standing right in front of him.

Ecclesiastes 9:3It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

Isaiah 22:13-14Instead, you dance and play; you slaughter cattle and kill sheep. You feast on meat and drink wine. You say, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has revealed this to me: “Till the day you die, you will never be forgiven for this sin.” That is the judgment of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Feelings of hopelessness can prompt self-indulgence and an ever-increasing appetite for more. This will produce an ever-increasing hopelessness that we will never be satisfied.

Job 17:13-15“What if I go to the grave and make my bed in darkness? What if I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister? Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it?”

Psalm 88:15-18I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors. Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me. They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long. They have engulfed me completely. You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.

Proverbs 13:12Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

1 Thessalonians 4:13Dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.

Feelings of hopelessness can lead to despair, which can make us want to give up.

Numbers 11:15If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”

1 Samuel 31:4Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and taunt and torture me.” But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

2 Samuel 17:23When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey, went to his hometown, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself. He died there and was buried in the family tomb.

1 Kings 16:18When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the citadel of the palace and burned it down over himself and died in the flames.

1 Kings 19:4Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

Job 3:20-21“Oh, why give light to those in misery, and life to those who are bitter? They long for death, and it won’t come. They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.”

Job 7:13-15“I think, ‘My bed will comfort me, and sleep will ease my misery,’ but then you shatter me with dreams and terrify me with visions. I would rather be strangled—rather die than suffer like this.”

Ecclesiastes 4:1-2Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.

Jonah 4:3, 8“Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” . . . And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

Matthew 27:5Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

Feelings of hopelessness can make us feel worthless, sometimes to the point of having suicidal tendencies. This does not mean God has abandoned us. Even Elijah—a great and godly prophet—had a period of great hopelessness in the middle of his ministry. Satan would have loved to see Elijah end his own life during this dark time, but even in despair, Elijah shared his struggles honestly with God. In response, God gave Elijah rest. Then he gave Elijah food. And then, once Elijah was ready, God gave him direction. In fact, God directed Elijah to Elisha, a partner in ministry who could carry on what Elijah had begun. When hopelessness makes us feel worthless, we, too, can turn to God. He cares for us, and he knows what we need. He will provide.