Hope

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me and find we when you seek me with all of your heart. Jer 29:11-12

This is a verse that I have gone back to over and over in my life the past eight years. I wish I could etch it onto my heart so that I wouldn't forget the promises found in these verses when I am in a dark place. Although I always go to him with my deepest thoughts and feelings, it always seems as if He isn't there, like He doesn't hear my cries. I think these thoughts are voices from Satan, trying to make me doubt that God even cares about me. When I go to that place, things seem so hopeless, like I am going to be trapped in that tunnel forever. These thoughts according to these verses are a lie. There is no truth in any of those statements!

We have to remember that the enemy's plans for us is to capture and destroy our hearts. If he can rob us of our joy, capture us in depression, make us believe there is no hope, and make us believe as if we are completely abandoned then in the end, we will lack trust in God. If we doubt who God is or doubt His promises to us, then we will start living and making decisions based on our own logic and emotions. When we do that, we will wander far from God's plan for our lives. When we wander from God and His Word, we will end up sinning. When we end up sinning, there are all kinds of consequences.

There is no worse place than to be isolated. Often when we are in a dark place, we remove ourselves from friends, family, people who love us. We don't want others to see us in a vulnerable place, a place of pain.

I think often about an eighth grade boy who lived in our community that has died this past month. He was so isolated, living in a dark place alone. His pain was so deep and his suffering so great that he thought that if he left this earth, it would give him a better life than what he had here. He had lost all hope, thinking he would never have a future. This picture sends me back to this verse.

There are five promises in these two verses: I will prosper you, I will give you hope, I will give you a future, I will listen, and You will find me. What do I need to do to receive these promises? He has already given us the first three without any action from us! He will make us prosper, He will give us hope and a future. Because of His provision, He wants us to call out to him with our suffering, come to Him, pray to Him, seek Him. When we seek Him with all of our heart, we will find Him and He is listening.

So what if you are so sad, you don't even know how to pray? In the same way, the Spirit (Holy Spirit) helps us in our weakness. We do not know what to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searces our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God's will. Romans 8:26-27

Ok, now you are saying you lost me along the way. If you are a follower of Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in you. He is a comforter, counselor, one who convicts. But he has another job, He intercedes on our behalf to God, telling him what pain lies within us even when we don't know how to pray. When I lost my dad, there were no words to say for months about how much pain I felt when I lost him. There were times when I couldn't even pray because I didn't know what to say. There have been other times when I have been deeply hurt and there were no words. The Holy Spirit speaks on my behalf. God has made a way for us in our suffering, not only in His promises but also as a helper when we find ourselves in the valleys.