Hope in the Place of Despair
by David Gibson
"For there is hope for a tree, when it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoots will not fail. Though its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the dry soil, at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth sprigs like a plant" (Job 14:7-9)
Around 40 years ago, we planted a pecan tree in our front yard. When it apparently died, I cut it off even with the ground. But later it sprouted and eventually bore pecans! Now it stands at approximately 25 feet tall.
Life is sometimes like that. That’s why we must never give up! Who knows what good things may come if we hold on a while longer?
Getting Through the Hard Times
- Joseph endured 13 years of slavery and imprisonment before his great promotion (Genesis 37, 39-50). What if he had given up?
- When Moses had all he could stand, he told God, “... kill me at once ... that I might not see my wretchedness” (Numbers 11:15). Mercifully, God eased his burden and gave him the strength to continue.
- Elijah felt so desperately alone in his stand for the truth that, like Moses, he asked God to take his life. But God had better things ahead for him (I Kings 19; II Kings 2).
- Paul once felt, as he put it, “so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (II Corinthians 1:8-10).
To the Joy that Awaits!
He has better things ahead for us too—if we will stay faithful, trusting Him for the outcome. And what a glorious outcome it is! (Romans 8:18; II Corinthians 4:16-18; II Timothy 4:6-8).
No wonder He is called “the God of hope” (Romans 15:13).
