Hope is as essential to our lives as the air we breathe.
Without hope, life begins to shut down and close in. For the Christian, hope is
not an optimistic wish for future things but hope is a trust in the goodness of
God; that despite the circumstances, God is good and will bring forth good
things.
Most Christians, I am sure, would agree with this but for some there
can be areas of our life where hope has died and when that happens it is as if
we close the door to any further hope in that area to save ourselves from
future disappointment. There are many areas where this could happen but some
examples are being single, childlessness, bereavement and grief, separation and
divorce, church life and ministry, unemployment and failure. So often it feels like hope has been dashed
and in order to function, we put our lost hope and disappointment into a room
and close the door.
However God does not want us to have closed doors in our
lives as they can lead to further difficulties and a bitterness of spirit. The
only way to keep the door open on our deep hurts and disappointments is to
establish in our own lives that God is good and has good things for his
children. As Steve Backlund says, ‘hope expects and knows that things
will ultimately work out in a good way.’
Whatever has happened is not because God is punishing us. God
has not stopped loving us and God does not want to teach us a lesson in a
negative sense. Some of these past hurts may have come about because we have
made poor choices or even sinned. God wants to bring healing and hope again
into these areas.
Today if fear is gripping your heart and you dare not trust God
in an area where you have lost hope, start with this declaration and prayer:
God I trust you
because you are a good God and want only good things for my life. I am so sorry
if I have in any way caused these difficulties but I will not blame anyone for
what has happened. I forgive any who have been instrumental in what has
happened including myself. Today I choose to believe that you will bring good
out of this. I open the door of my hurt to your healing love and restoration
and I receive your hope. In Jesus Name Amen.
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