A minister friend was sharing a story with me this week. He shared how he had visited a local church for the first time. He sat in the back and observed several people who weren’t participating in the call for prayer. He also noticed the people who didn’t or weren’t able to stand when the pastor would ask everyone to stand.
He shared how one person quickly left the meeting when the pastor called for anyone who needed healing. He said it was obvious this person needed healing, yet they started out the door. He, being who he is, quickly followed this person and asked if he could pray for them. He said they were reluctant but allowed him to pray. Throughout the prayer the person did not believe for one moment they would be healed. Sadly, he returned to his seat.
A little later, he noticed this person who did not get up each time the pastor would ask the congregation to arise. He went over to the person and ask if he could pray for them. They said yes, he asked where the pain was, they shared that information with him and he prayed. God healed the man, right there in his seat. The story goes on but in the midst of it, my friend said something that caught my attention. He said ‘they didn’t want to take the risk, they had tried and believed so many times that they didn’t want to take the risk again.’
It reminded me of a story I read once about a man who had and defeated cancer and then it came back. His family was urging him to fight, he wanted to give up, why? Because he didn’t have the heart to believe again. He simply could not take the risk.
I can understand that feeling, I have been there. But there is always a reason to hope. Hebrews 6:19 says; “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” It is our hope in God and His word that causes us to remain steadfast and immovable in our faith, without hope, we are lost, or at least I am. Hebrews 10:23 goes on to say; “let us hold fast to our confession of hope, without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
When we trust in something, even God, and things don’t turn out the way we thought, we often lose hope. I have come to learn, if things didn’t turn out the way I thought they would, there was a problem with me, not God. His ways are different from mine, but if I allow my thoughts to line up with His thoughts, and His ways to line up with my ways, disappointment has to go. I also trust that He has a good plan for me, one filled with hope and He will show me the path I am to take.
I can imagine how Peter must have felt after a night of toiling and catching nothing. That night certainly didn’t turn out the way he expected it to, did it? Imagine what would have taken place if he had decided not to listen to Jesus when Jesus told him to try one more time? I can tell you, he would have missed the catch of his life.
Or how about the man who wanted to be healed. Jesus asked ‘do you believe I can?’ He replied ‘I am believing with all I have but please, Jesus, help my unbelief.’ He knew there was a part of him that had unbelief, but he didn’t allow that to stop him. He hoped with all he had. He did as Abraham did, he hoped against hope.
Abraham had no reason in the natural to believe he would ever father a child. But GOD DOES NOT LIE. God told him he would father a child and he did, not only a child, but a nation. Imagine what Abraham would have missed if he hadn’t continued to believe God after Ishmael? There would never have been a child of promise, then where would you and I be? Believing one more time isn’t something new. Hoping against hope isn’t a new fad, it is the way it has always been with those who truly believe God. At some time we will all have to hope against hope. We will have to believe one more time, trust one more time, give all one more time…it’s all throughout the bible and God does not change.
I want to encourage those of you who have become discouraged…hope anyway. Hope against hope. Hope in God. I can’t find any place in the Bible where God’s people hoped against hope and He failed them, and I truly don’t believe you will be the first. Keep trusting God. He will not fail you.
Today, I want to leave you with my prayer for you…
Prayer for today: NOW, may the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen. (Romans 15:13)
