When It Seems Like There Is No Hope

This time last year I found myself in uncharted territory.  I was about to become a member of a group that no one should be a member of.  A group of women who have miscarried or lost infant children.  At the time I distinctly remember being at my lowest point where nothing seemed to make sense.  October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month so it is only fitting that I talk about the grief that I overcame.  I overcame my sorrow because of His Hope.

No One Tells You…

There is no one who tells you what to expect.

No one tells you how you will be treated by medical staff.

There is no one to tell you how long the pain will last.

They are all things that you will have to walk through individually and since it is happening within your body, you feel alone.

Here is what I can tell you.  God is faithful and He gives us hope.  There were times when I felt like I was cradled in His arms and that no amount of grief was too much for Him.

He Knew…

You see my friend, He knew all along.  He knew that the loss I experienced was necessary for my spiritual development.  There was a refining that occurred during that time.  I had shift of perspective and a desire to speak into other’s lives who were experiencing the same heartache.  He knew that the loss was really no loss at all for Heaven gained another soul whom I will see again.  My loss was His gain.

During times of unexpected grief and heartache it can be tempting to have a defeated frame of mind.  We each walk through valleys where the shadow looms and weariness sets in but God provides the liberty of surrender.  Surrendering our pain and fatigue over to God gives Him permission to make miracles out of our messes.  Just as He turns water into wine, He takes our sorrow and turns it into joy.  In our despair we are given hope.  I was able to live that out this past year.

Just as He turns water into wine, He takes our sorrow and turns it into joy Share on X

What I know now that I didn’t know then is that enduring and persevering during such hardship builds character.  I had read it, but now I understand it.

A Hopeful Devotion

I have an outstanding devotional by Charles Spurgeon that I received as a Christmas gift last year and I haven’t been able to put it down.  Last week I read something so profound that I decided to share it with you today.  It perfectly encapsulates how a believer in Christ should handle adversity and the promise of hope that the Lord provides.

Happy are you, O Israel!  Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord.
Deuteronomy 33:29  ESV

The person who declares that Christianity makes men miserable is himself an utter stranger to it.  It would be strange indeed if it made us wretched;
consider to what a position it exalts us!  It makes us sons of God.  Do you suppose that God will give all the happiness to His enemies and reserve
all the mourning for His own family?  Will His foes have laughter and joy, while His home born children inherit sorrow and wretchedness?  Will the
sinner, who has no part in Christ, call himself rich in happiness, while we go on mourning as if penniless beggars?

No; we will rejoice in the Lord
always and glory in our inheritance, for we “did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have recieved the Spirit of adoption as sons, 
by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” The rod of discipline must rest upon us in our measure, but it works for us the comfortable fruits of righteousness; and 
therefore by the help of the divine Comforter, we, a “people saved by the Lord,” will rejoice in the God of our salvations.

We are married to Christ; and will our
great Bridegroom permit His spouse to linger in constant grief?  Our hearts are knit to Him:  We are His members and though for a while we may suffer
as our Head once suffered, yet even now we are blessed with heavenly blessings in Him.  We have the promise of our inheritance in the comforts of the
spirit, which are neither few nor small.  Inheritors of joy forever, we have foretastes of our portion.

There are streaks of light of joy to herald our eternal sunrise.
Our riches are beyond the sea; our city with firm foundations lies on the other side of the river; gleams of glory from the spirit-world cheer our hearts and urge us
onward.  It is truly said of us, “Happy are you, O Israel!  Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord.”

(Excerpt from Spurgeon’s Morning by Morning by Alistair Begg)

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Please join me at Stacey Pardoe’s Blog for this week’s Salt & Light Feature.  You will gain much from her wisdom and invaluable insight.

>>>Read “Why Your Lowest Moment is an Open Door For God to Work”<<<