Get A Grip On Hope

"And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord: This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:18, 21-23

The mind is a beautiful thing. God has given the mind an ability to remember things. How we use our memory can either fill us with hope, or it can plunge us into the deepest darkest despair.

All too often, people remember the bad things in life. "I still remember what you did to me and what you said about me." When we recall those negative things, we bring the emotions of the past into the present, and we live them all over again. It may have happened twenty years ago, yet our memory can make the pain as real as ever.

Paul told us to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds" (see Romans 12:2). How we use our memory impacts what we become. It not only determines the stability by which we pursue our dreams, but it determines whether or not we have a dream to pursue.

At first Jeremiah remembered negative things. As a result he suffered loss and experienced grief and emptiness. Hopelessness, despair and sorrow made him focus mainly on himself. He became bitter because he could see no way out of his pain. He felt trapped. All he could do was weep, wail and lament over the land of Israel and its people.

You see, the people were being destroyed because of their own rebellion. They were being viciously and traumatically killed by the brutal nation of the Chaldeans. They bring to mind the terrorist of our day; only they did not suicide kill. They just killed.

Jeremiah really loved the people and nation, but he had to watch helplessly as the result of his unheeded prophecy came to pass. This exacerbated his grief to the extent that it became a fixed attitude. As a result, Jeremiah was losing his hope.

When bad things are going on around us, we have to use our memory to recall the things that will bring hope to us. "This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope." While yet feeling abandoned, oppressed, humiliated and bitter, Jeremiah remembered one thing. "It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." Jeremiah found a starting point. He remembered a truth about God’s nature and grabbed hold of it. He was still in great pain and distress but he found something to grab hold of. There was yet no apparent relief in sight, but Jeremiah found something to grab hold of. He realized that he had the compassion and mercies of God to rely on. He had something that would never fail. He realized that it was impossible for his people to be abandoned by God. He found a reason to keep going. He got a grip on hope.

When I think about where I could have been, instead of crying and complaining, I can sing. I could have been consumed, but here I am sitting in the midst of God’s unfailing mercies. Just think about it. Multiplied thousands are losing out, but we’re still here. Some lost soul went through the grave to the place of eternal chaos and disorder, but we’re still here. Just try and hear the cries of guilty tormented souls as their chains rings out in the place where the worm dieth not and the fire is never quenched. They exist in flames so terrible that the mind of the most deranged maniac can never imagine it. They are there but we are here, and it’s all because of God’s unfailing mercies.

It’s true that our circumstances may not be ideal. It’s true that we have stresses and pressures that are making us uncomfortable. It’s true that things could be a whole lot better than they are. But just like Jeremiah, we have something to remember that will give us a grip on hope.

Have you ever been in a dungeon? It is designed in such a way as to never receive light. It is dark, cold and moist; a place of mildew, fever, illness and death. It’s a filthy place where despair reigns supreme. But even a dungeon is luxury in comparison to the flames of hell.

God’s compassions never fail; they are new every morning. He is so faithful that we are never given leftover compassion. We may not have all the income we need, but if we have good health, we should be thankful. The single reason why things are not as bad as they could be is because we’re enjoying God’s mercies. We’re not living in abject poverty, we’re not starving and we’re not naked. Our situation is not the worse; we’re not looking at what Jeremiah witnessed.

The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him verse 24. No matter what we’ve lost, we haven’t lost our portion. God is our portion, so if we have nothing else left, we still have our source of everything.

When our heart is heavy and sorrowful, we need to remember, we still have our portion. Although our friends have left us alone, we still have our portion. Although my husband isn’t acting right and the future of my marriage is uncertain, I still have my portion. Although my pastor is preaching heresies and the church is filled with hate, I still have the comfort and assurance of heaven.

You may be dealing with a situation that says, "You can’t make it, you can’t rejoice; you may as well give up." But God cannot be taken away from you. He is your perpetual possession. You’ve got new mercies, new compassions and great promises. It may seem light the night will never end, and the blast of winter will never abate. But we can get a grip. Because in the midst of it all, we can know that God will never fail us.

When I was in the military, I was stationed in Colorado Springs. I could look out of my window and visualize the mountain. In fact, they looked like a picture. But at night or during a severe snowstorm, I could not see the mountains. They were there, but they were hidden from sight. There were just as real at night as they were in the daytime.

God is somewhat like that. He is there in the daytime and He’s there in the darkness. Sometimes we can see His work and sometimes we cannot. At times we may have to fight doubts and fears and anxious thoughts. But we can remember when Jesus first came into our hearts; when He delivered us from a time where trouble was overwhelming. That was the past, but it still makes us feel better

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I will still be praising him Psalms 42:5. Regardless to what we have lost; our dignity, integrity, finances and health, we must remember that God is on our side. He is faithfully and compassionately meeting our needs. Wherever you are right now, remember His compassions and mercies, and keep a grip on the hope that’s only found in Him.

By: Edmund Brown