6 Steps for Finding Hope Again
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- Updated Apr 26, 2023
For the past two weeks, I’ve been in a deep and dark place, a familiar place, but one I never look forward to seeing again. No amount of prayer, no amount of action, and no amount of intervention from others changed how I felt about myself. How I felt was how I felt, and what I felt was that there was no hope. Despite praying for so long and trying so hard, I was left on my own. Abandoned by the world, forsaken by God.
Then something happened. A click. On Sunday, I spent the day praying, journaling, and once again trying to connect with the Lord. We connected.
My situation hadn’t change, but my perspective was renewed. Hope was possible again. What I also realized was that though my struggle lasted for two weeks, there are those I know who’ve been without hope for months or years. Hopelessness has become a personality trait, turning them into cynics and pessimists, despite at the same time professing a Christian faith. Maybe today, you’re such a person.
Hope let you down, and you vowed never to be let down again.
Life does not have to be so dour for any of us. What we need is a proper perspective. What we need is to find hope again – hope in the right things.
Where I went wrong is placing my hope in something desired and something good, but not in God Himself. When the thing I so desperately wanted didn’t happen despite my efforts, I grew tired and weary. I grew hopeless. If God didn’t help in this area that meant so much to me, then God wasn’t really interested in loving me.
This is the mistake we sometimes make as believers. We value hope, as we should, but we place that virtue in the wrong things. Then we blame God for our hardships when we were the ones who drifted away.
Thankfully, He is willing, able, and ready to welcome us back like the prodigal son.
If you’re in a dark place, if you’re full of despair, I’ve got a hopeful message for you. There is a way to find hope again. Here’s how.
Keep Praying
Prayer is not just essential to the faith of a believer but essential to finding hope again. We have to pray. That’s our sure way of communicating with God no matter the time of the day, our location, or the disposition of our hearts. We should keep open that line of communication not for His sake but our own. We don’t say prayers to inform God of anything. He already knows. Rather, we pray to help conform ourselves to the image of Christ.
If we neglect to connect with Him, we risk hardening our hearts. In place of humility, we develop pride. Sure, He may not answer our prayers when we want or how, but to not pray at all suggests that we no longer care, but we do. God will answer our prayers, but in the meantime, He’s developing our character.
Keep Reading
With time we forget. We forget people, places, experiences, and information. We forget God’s promises. Even when we think we remember, re-engaging with Scripture reacquaints us with the truth. We also find that by reading the Bible for one particular reason, we find helpful information regarding other subjects.
There are many passages to recite in our hour of need, and stories that remind us of the hardships others endured before our own. They found hope, and so can we.
Keep Worshiping
Even when the emotions say not to, singing and dancing to worship music can help alter our mindset. Music undoubtedly influences our mood. When we choose to engage with hopeful messaging, we become influenced to be more hopeful. Worship music also helps us to recall God’s character when we start doubting His goodness.
Keep Gratitude Alive
God may not be giving you the thing you want in the way you want or in your timing, but what is He giving you? What did God bless you with yesterday or today? What are you expecting tomorrow? Keeping gratitude alive helps us to maintain a healthy perspective of the Lord. Instead of seeing Him as unloving for the things He has not seemingly delivered on, we discover contentment and even hope, recognizing what we do have.
Keep Confessing
Chances are, sin is playing a part in keeping you separated from God. If you’re not hoping, you’re doing something else with your energy instead. By developing self-awareness, we can eliminate the bad behaviors in our lives that keep us from connecting with Him and seeing the Lord at work. A sinful heart clouds perspective, but a virtuous one sees God in the best way.
Keep Good Habits Going
Maybe one of the steps on this list doesn’t seem to be working, or maybe that’s the case with everything you’ve read thus far. Regardless, keep the good habits going. There’s no telling how long you’ll be in your current tough season. Much like Job, sometimes we suffer in ways that are unpredictable or even seem cruel and unfair. But with hope, we find ways to endure. The only sure way to find hope again is to keep doing what you know to be right, even if you don’t feel right. Our hearts can be deceitful, but God has given us wisdom that we can count on always being true.
Conclusion
Day after day goes by, and nothing’s changed. Though you’ve prayed, you’re quite sure God is not with you. He’s against you. I know how you feel. I could recite for you some of God’s promises and tell you that they’re all true, except for me. And you think, except for you.
We’re wrong. We couldn’t be further from the truth, but sometimes that’s just too difficult to see. That’s why we ought to keep good habits going, going until we can see once again with a proper perspective. I can’t tell you how long you’ll need to find hope again, but I can tell you finding hope is possible with time.
Emotions can be deceiving. Sometimes we simply have to rely on what we know. And we know that God loves us, for the Bible tells us so.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImagesNiseriN
