There was a time I was down in the pits and felt like my life was over. There was no hope in sight – none at all. You might be at that place right now where all you see is darkness, no gleam of light at all, but I have good news for you, there actually is hope!

One minute, life was fine and all glorious, and the next minute, BOOM, disaster struck and I quickly sank deep down into the pit of darkness and despair and just knew that life as I know it was over. There was no hope in sight – none at all. I was broken, completely shattered. My soul, my life was shattered into tiny pieces that are not repairable even if anyone tried. I felt lost and hopeless. I felt all alone. All life within me was gone, completely drained. I felt like a walking zombie. I was alive but lifeless.

Encountering Jesus in Whom all Hope Lies

Before he left for work that morning, my husband dropped myself and our children at my mother’s house because I couldn’t bear to be alone; he gave me a book Power Through Constructive Thinking by Emmet Fox and said, “I think you should read this book”. At that time I had no idea what the book was really about except that it was a religious book because for years he had actually tried to get me to read it but I always refused thinking it was some type of weird spiritual book that I had no interest in getting into (my husband reads a lot of books on spirituality and always wants me to read them). But something was different on that Labor Day Monday morning. I guess I figured well I have nothing else to do, nowhere to go, so I might as well read it. Or maybe I just wanted to get him off my back but whatever it was; it worked because I read the book.

As I hopelessly laid there on the couch at my mother’s house (because I couldn’t be by myself) and my children noisily at a distance (though I was too down within myself to even hear them), I didn’t even know when I opened the book and started reading it. And I didn’t even start from chapter one. I opened up to a chapter that was about Psalm 91. (So turns out that the book is somewhat of a commentary on some popular bible scriptures).

The way the Holy Spirit works is amazing. You see, Psalm 91, well at least the first verse has always been a bible verse that I heard over and over again in church and I would often pray, Lord I want to be in Your secret place but guess what, I didn’t even know what part of the Bible it was in or if it was even in the bible or just one of those “cute” quotes that Christians say, or even what the secret place is; however, I knew from listening to pastors and ministers that I should desire to be in the secret place of the Most High. I tell you, God truly does work in mysterious ways.

I can’t even tell you at what point of my reading it happened but I kid you not, all of a sudden I felt a flicker of hope rising from deep within me. Something shifted in my spirit though I didn’t know it or even recognized it at that time – thank God for the benefit of hindsight; looking back now I understand and also recognized that I had just encountered the Lord through that book. (We will discuss encountering Jesus in my next blog post, be on the lookout for it). Something in me actually started believing that God was speaking about me and to me in Psalm 91 as the book explained. I thought to myself, could it be true? Have you ever asked yourself the same question when you read a verse in the bible? Like, God can’t possibly be talking about me? I know, I get it, that was me too.

Is There Really Hope For Me?

Reading that book by Emmet Fox, his explanation of the entire Psalm 91 and of course the Holy Spirit adding His Light and bringing the words to life, made me realize that there may be hope for me after all. I found myself believing that God will help me. I am saying to you today, that there is hope! I will say it again, there is hope! DO NOT GIVE UP! You might be facing the biggest storm of your life right now but don’t give up, hang in there because there is hope. No matter what that situation is that feels hopeless, the mistakes you have made in the past, the pain, the hurt, the betrayal, the unfairness, the injustice, know that all is not lost, let hope rise again.

I know you feel like you can’t go on another day but I am here to tell you that as long as you are alive, there is hope. The fact that you are here, alive, means that God is not done with you. I have been there and I can attest to it. Don’t quit just yet. Don’t throw in the towel yet. God is not done with you. He has not left you and He will never abandon you. It says so in His Word in Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

That voice that you are hearing telling you that it is over, saying you should give up, saying that you blew it, I want you to recognize that voice is the voice of the enemy. Remember, satan is not on your side. He knows that if he can get you to give up, then he can defeat you and take everything from you – and that is not what you want, that is not what I want for you, most importantly, that is not what God wants for you. Jesus said in John 10:10 (AMP),

“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].”

Jesus came so that you and I may have and enjoy life; again I want to remind you that there is hope.

So get up! Yes! Get up! Lift your head up, dry up your tears, put on your boxing gloves and let’s go! We have a battle against the enemy to win. The bible says, the devil goes around like a roaring lion looking for whom to devour (see 1 Peter 5:8), but I got news for the devil, before he destroys us, we will destroy him. In fact, he has already been defeated by the precious blood of Jesus and victory is yours and mine! Hallelujah!

My prayer for you today from Romans 15:13 AMP & Ephesians 1:18-19 respectively:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promise and I also pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which God has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe,” Amen.

Until next time, remember, keep your hope in God for He loves you and has promised to never leave you nor forsake you!

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