Hopeless in Christ

I have sat back many times and had a look at my life, considered the decisions I have made, the paths I have chosen to take and the foundations on which I have chosen to build my life. Of all that, the one thing I do not regret, in fact the one that I find all my joy, is the choice to be a Christian. Christianity is a choice that I have made in a world where choices determine who we are. I take pride in knowing that I am a Christian and that I stand for Christ and live for Him alone. 

 

Choosing to be a Christian does not mean things become much simpler for me; it might even make things worse. It leads to pouring so much thought into everything that I do, just to make sure that I am glorifying God in all my actions and my decisions. 

Being a Christian means that I am vulnerable to the devil’s desire to put my God to shame, he wants to show the world the God I serve is not all that, so I have to strive and prove him wrong and show the world that my God is really all that. 

I face a load of challenges in my life and at times I almost want to shout at the top of my lungs when things are not what I want them to be.  I have been learning quite a number of lessons through the so many seemingly hopeless situations that I have been going through. I am currently studying the life of Moses for my Bible Study and just a glance into it and I have found so much comfort in the God whom I have chosen to serve and follow. 

At a time when boys were meant to be killed, Moses remained alive; more so nursed by his own mother, who must have taught him that he was an Israelite, then raised in the King’s house as one of his own, learning and growing in wisdom from the best teachers anyone would ever ask for at that time. 

I am reading “When God doesn’t Make Sense” by Dr. James Dobson and he gives accounts of so many stories of hopeless situations that get me thinking of just one word; why? 

It is so hard to imagine some of the situations that we go through in life and we are so tempted to ask God why. It is not like we are going to hear his booming voice reply with a comforting answer immediately. The Bible tells us that so much is beyond our understanding, but all that is in His perfect plan for our lives. 

Ecc 11:5- As you do not know the path of the wind, or how a body is formed in a mother’s womb so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things. 

However hard it is, the Bible even goes ahead and encourages us to rejoice in all things, to be thankful for all the challenges and situations that we go through in our lives. 

So many characters in the Bible went through seemingly hopeless situations and God emerged victorious through them all; in fact there is no person who walked faithfully in God without first facing a seemingly hopeless situation. 

Joseph was betrayed by his brothers for his pride and put in prison; a hopeless case, Moses was cornered on the banks of the Red Sea with the most powerful army of his time breathing down his neck; a hopeless case, Gideon was 300 against 300,000, David stood across the valley from a bloodthirsty giant, Esther was a woman trying to gain a word from a prideful king, Daniel’s roommate was a lion, his friends were thrown in an oven, Jonah sucked at his job and was stuck in a whale, Peter was a coward, Paul was imprisoned, the 5,000 had no food, Lazarus was dead, Timothy was too young, Abraham was too old, the youngest son was too stupid, the walls of Jericho were too strong and Jesus was humiliated, hung on a cross, and buried in a tomb, burying all hopes of a revolution that was hoped for thousands of years. 

It was the end for each and every one of them, all seemingly hopeless situations. And I can bet they put a period to all their stories, but God had placed a comma instead. When everything else has failed, that is exactly where God showed up. 

Now,  Joseph became the second in command, the Red Sea parted, Gideon won without lifting a weapon, Goliath’s head was on a plate, Esther spoke and the king listened, Daniel tamed the lion, the oven felt like room temperature, Nineve repented, Peter became the Rock, Paul rejoiced, 12 basket-fulls were left over, Lazarus was alive, Timothy built a church, Abraham built a family, the youngest son came home to a party, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down and most of all, Jesus Christ pulled off the resurrection defeating sin and death and the creation that had been marred so many years ago was now restored for all time. 

With God, what seems like hopelessness is not only possible, it is favourable. He turns a mess into a message, a trial into a triumph, a test into a testimony and a victim into a victory. His power is made perfect in weakness, so let us rejoice in our trials and hold steadfast to the hope we confess, because He who promised is faithful, was faithful and will always be faithful no matter how hopeless the situation. 

Courtesy of "The Anima Series" and Dr. James Dobson's "When God Doesn't Make Sense"