When I was young I often heard the saying “oh enjoy life now because when you get older life will get harder”. I never fully appreciated that.  There’s an element of truth in it that I now understand and the challenges we face as we get older become less about the innocence of life when we were young and more about the responsibilites that we now carry. I am beginning to appreciate more and more how precious life really is, how precious every moment is, every conversation, every occasion with family and friends. The memories that we create along life’s journey happy or sad play a part in shaping us and leaving an imprint in our hearts. 

Everyday is such a privilege to embark on. We should not take it forgranted because tomorrow may never come. But even in that tomorrow for those of us who believe in Jesus, there will be a tomorrow day that will come that will be an everlasting day and most glorious. So that really does change how we should view life in this world now and be sure of the promise’s that are true in the faith we have. 

There is hope for the hopeless. 

The older we get there is an element of profound truth “the harder life can become”. So many more responsibilities and age more than anything grows with us all day by day. The stresses and strains of this earthly life that take their toll on our bodies, soul and mind.  The worries that arise about health and wealth and the future in a world that appears to be so full of uncertainity. 

Where does ones true security really rest ? 

Who do we rely on in our greatest hour of need ?

Over the past few weeks I have been thinking a lot about the hidden pain that we often carry. A pain that some of us carry deep within, we know it is there and we just ache inside. That ache sometimes carries a dream of hope that we have hidden in our hearts with a deep longing to see it become a reality. In season and out of season we are full of hope. It lingers and we wait for it patiently. Time still seems to present an opportunity of the dream happening and we believe it will surely come to pass, for there is still hope for that desire to be fulfilled. 

Yet for some of us in this life we have been hit with the reality that it won’t become our experience and after crying out to God for years to let it be, our circumstances have remained unchanged. We feel like we have been left in a wilderness full of disillusionment were our hope has gone. We feel hopeless, our faith has dimenished and we are living in the midst of trying to understand the depths of the truth in those words;

“There is hope for the hopeless”. 

We find ourselves in broken pieces and no words from our loved ones can bring any comfort to the soul or answers for the hidden pain, the ache we have deep inside. We begin to feel isolated in our pain and alone, discouraged and misunderstood. No one really understands the hidden pain and we become afraid to share or talk about it anymore as there is absolutely nothing that anyone else can do. Only the God of the miraculous can intervene. There’s no where else to turn, nowhere else to run, no other conversations to be had that can bring that answer to the unanswered questions we have. 

“Why Lord ?”

“Why have I got to walk this path?”

“I do not understand.”

“Why me Lord?”

“Why have I not seen this answer to prayer? 

“Why do I have to go through this experience?”

“I never thought my life would turn out this way.”

“Help me to understand your ways.”

“Help me to handle the hidden pain!”

In those times when we have so many questions and struggle to find any answer. When we feel rejected or like there is something wrong with us and we are ashamed to even mention the hidden pain or the hopelessness that we feel. Those times do something much deeper in our hearts than we will ever fully understand or even comprehend. 

Something I am learning more and more is the importance of sharing our hidden pain with others. Choosing to share our lives with trustworthy friends and letting them in. For when we allow others in they get the chance to grow and learn from us. Together we get challenged to stop and think about life and the reality that many of us live out in different ways. We allow others to journey with us and say “I will journey with you. I will pray for you. I will ask God for the miracle. I will stand in the gap for you”. We learn that in a way all of us face different experiences in this life with similar emotions producing the same fruit in our lives that draws us closer to our Heavenly Father. 

Our Heavenly Father is so sovereign and he doesn’t make any mistakes with our lives. It’s doesn’t mean that we will escape suffering in our walk with him or the pain that experiences in this life bring. He doesn’t take us through anything more than what we are able to carry. In those times of great pain he becomes our only hope when we choose to trust Him with our lives. When we rest in him and lean upon the arms of our everlasting God, he comforts our tired and weary soul. He is there in our greatest hour of need. We can trust him to know what is best. He is sovereign and everything will be made beautiful in his time. 

There is hope for the hopeless!

Jesus really is our hope!