When Life Takes A Downturn

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When All Hope Seems Lost
The times we live in are so troubled. People losing their jobs, the stock market falls, natural catastrophes, and uncertainty in what the future holds. In today’s economy there is little to hope for the future however God is never caught off guard or by surprise.

God knows the future. You are not the only one that has felt that there is no hope. Even Bible heroes had their times when they wanted to give up. Job, Moses, Jonah, Jeremiah, even the powerful prophet in the Old Testament, Elijah.

Humans have definitions of hope that are different from God’s. We might hope our team wins the Super Bowl, or we might hope we don’t lose our jobs or our house. But the biblical definition of hope is not a hope-so but a know-so. Our hope in God is surer than the sun rising in the morning.

Just read these verses of hope and put yourself or your own name in the place of “I” or “we”. Where is hope found? It is in the Bible, the Word of God. Psalm 119:74 “I have put my hope in your word”, in Psalm 119:81 “… I have put my hope in your word”, and in Psalm 130:5 “… in His word (The Bible) I put my hope”.

Here is real hope. When a person reads the Word of God (Bible) they can know for certain that they have a secure and certain future for God will never allow us to suffer beyond our own capabilities to handle it. There is nothing on this earth more certain than hope in God. He will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us. He is our anchor in the present and for the future.

Here are Bible Verses To Get You Through When All Hope Seems Lost

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm

25:5
We are finite creatures and can not look beyond today but God has planned every step we take. He guides us and protects us, even in areas where the dark shadows of death seem imminent in the lowest valleys (Psalm 23). We might plan our own course but God Himself determines where our steps go (Proverbs 16:9).

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24

As Christians we can take heart and be courageous because God is our hope. When God is your hope you have a sure thing. When it is in the world, then we are consumed with worry because we don’t know what comes next. Those who have hope in God have hope in the only One Who can guarantee our future.

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, Psalm 33:18

When we hear the words “fear in the Lord” or “those who fear him” this is not a fear of punishment or retribution. Fear is simply a reverential respect and standing in awe of God. That is what “fear of the Lord” means. It means that those who reverence God and His name have nothing to fear at all; no evil, no pestilence, no begging for bread, and no fear of want.

His unfailing love is upon those that fear or revere Him: His love never fails and His eyes are fixed on you in a permanent gaze that is transfixed upon your today and your tomorrow. You are the apple of His eye (Deuteronomy 32:10, Zechariah 2:8).

We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20

Our hope in God is a shied of life. Not only a shield in eternal life but in the present life. He is our help when we need

it and our shield when we need protecting. God alone is our help and our shield But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Psalm 39:7

When we look to ourselves, our employer, our retirement fund, or our inheritance, we can not fully hope with 100% certainty. But what do we look for when our Hope is in God? We know that even our employer’s decisions are in God’s sovereign hands.

Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.” The king thinks he might be in charge, or the boss might think he or she is making their own decision, but in God’s sovereignty, they do nothing that is not in God’s divine plan for us. They are subject to the Lord’s will whether they know it or not.

… when hope is in God we have reason to praise our Savior and our God.

… when hope is in God we have reason to praise our Savior and our God.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5

I have often times wrestled with tomorrow while I lay down to sleep. The many “what if’s” haunt my mind and do not allow me to sleep as I rehearse the day’s events and worry about what happens tomorrow if…. But worrying about tomorrow is borrowing trouble from tomorrow and spending it on today.

When you realize that tomorrow is already taken care of by God alone and the hope you have in Him, then you can find rest. It is easier to sleep tonight if you know tomorrow is in God’s hands.