Where are you finding hope these days? Perhaps a first question should be, “Where are you looking for hope?” More and more people are rejecting the authority or even the existence of God, and then wondering why depression and suicide are on the rise. There can never be genuine hope outside of God. Once we deny Him, there is no hope remaining.
As apologist William Lane Craig has said, “This is the reality in a universe without God: there is no hope; there is no purpose.” So, if you are trying to find hope while leaving God out of the equation, you are fighting a losing battle. You will find your only hope—in fact, the only hope of the world—in Jesus.
I don’t know what you’re going through today. But I know whatever it is, there is still hope. I know this because Jesus has not left the building. He is here today, just as He has been every day in the past and will be every day in the future. You may not always feel His presence, but your feelings do not alter the reality of what is true. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8), and He promises to never leave or forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). He is right beside you, and you can find hope in Him. You just have to stop focusing on your problems and gaze instead on His beauty.
If you are going through some tough times right now, saying “trust in Jesus” can seem easier said than done. The last thing you want or need is another religious platitude you’ve heard a thousand times before. You want the money to pay the rent or buy food for your family, not some stranger’s vague advice. No matter what you need, the thing you need most is hope. Without it, you’re finished. Once we lose hope, we no longer have the motivation or wherewithal to crawl out from under our current circumstances. But with hope, we have the strength to fight another day.
Finding hope can be as simple as reading God’s Word. If you are feeling particularly discouraged, I recommend reading some Psalms. David went through some terrible events (the death of his best friend, surviving attempts on his life, having his son go behind his back in the most vicious and embarrassing ways, dealing with the knowledge he had an innocent man killed, and the death of both his infant and grown children). Through it all, David found hope in God. He knew no matter how bad things became for him, God was his ever-present help in trouble. David never let go of his faith, and God rewarded his faithfulness.
No matter how dark the night, morning will always come. There is no situation Jesus cannot redeem. You simply must hold fast to your faith in Him. Keep obeying His commands (John 14:15). Maintain your spiritual disciplines. I don’t know where the end of the tunnel is for you, but I know Jesus is walking with you through it, and at the same time also waiting on the other side of the tunnel for you to emerge. What we are going through rarely matters at all. All that matters is who we are becoming through the trial. Things will get better so long as we never stop finding hope in Jesus. He will never let you down.