Hope In The Midst Of Trouble

Hope is God's gift to the believer. 1 Corinthians 13 says, "Now abideth faith, hope, and love". Say that with me. "Faith, hope, and love". David writes in Psalm 42:5, "Hope thou in God". You put your faith in some people, you'll often be disappointed. But you will never be disappointed when you put your faith in God. He will never fail you. God put you on this earth for a specific purpose. I want you to get that in your mind. God has a purpose for every person here. And when you fulfill that purpose, your life will be the most joyous adventure you could possibly imagine. God has a plan for you. You have a divine destiny with unlimited potential, blessings that you cannot contain. The favor of God is in your future above and beyond your wildest dream. Nothing is impossible with God or to those that love him!

Jesus Christ is presented in the Bible as our blessed hope. Saint Paul presents Christ as the hope of glory. Hope generates enthusiasm and excitement. Have you ever been around people who are excited about what they're doing? It's because they have hope in that, that they're going to accomplish their assignment. Hope produces joy the world cannot give and the world cannot take it away. Hope is faith reaching out in the darkness, knowing that the God we serve can never fail.

Romans 5:2: "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God". The first recorded prophecy of hope in the Bible was that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. The woman was Mary. The seed was Jesus. The serpent was satan. His head was crushed. It's a word of hope from God the Father that satan is a defeated foe. His son, Jesus Christ, when he said, "It is finished," the head of the serpent was crushed. Satan has no power over you. He cannot control you. He can harm you. He has been defeated at the cross!

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hoped for". I love this verse. We are sure because of the past performances of God in the Bible. I'm sure God answers prayer. I know so. I'm sure God heals from sickness and disease. I'm sure of eternal life. Christ has risen from the dead. And because he lives, we shall live also. I'm sure that the king is coming soon with power and great glory. I'm sure, because the Word of God clearly declares it! Look up and pray up, saints. We're going up in the twinkling of an eye! Have you ever gotten in a circle of pessimistic people without hope? They sink into despair. After despair comes depression. Life becomes an endless trail of tears. They say things like, "I hate my life. It's meaningless. I have no purpose".

That's absolutely wrong. God has a purpose for you! Get off your pity pot and start searching for it. When you sit in a building like this, you don't know the kind of pain the person next to you is enduring right now. There are people who are smiling on the outside and crying on the inside, talking about happiness while they're living in an emotional hell. Is this you? Is this your family? Is this your marriage? Is this about your business? God has this word, "Hope thou in God". Hope thou in God.

Lost hope is the undertaker's best friend. Many people no longer hope for the best: they just hope to avoid the worst. You can't live without hope. If you have no hope, your heart will break, your mind will snap, your will will stagger through life blinded by your tears, you will walk down a road that leads to nowhere, where joy has been suffocated by the sound of your sobbing. Many of you here and many watching by television are desperately searching for hope. I have this message from God for you today. There is hope for a brighter tomorrow. There is hope for a joyous tomorrow. There's hope for an accomplishing tomorrow. Dreams still come true! There is a never-failing hope guaranteed by the promises and the power of God! Our hope is not wishful thinking! Our hope is real! It's alive! It's eternal! It's available! It's yours for the asking!

Many of us are haunted by the memory of a great failure that changed the course of our life. There's a dark chapter in the drama of your life that you cannot forget. You brood over a past failure, and nurse its memory by thinking of what might have been if... You think about something, as humans have a compulsion to do. Remembering yesterday's tragic mistakes cripples our ability to have hope for tomorrow. I want to say that again. Remembering yesterday's tragic mistakes cripples your ability to have hope for tomorrow. How many times have disillusioned and desperate people walking in depression walked into my office with a dark secret locked up inside that has totally destroyed all hope for a better life in the future?