FINDING HOPE FOR THE FUTURE, WHEN THERE’S NO HOPE IN SIGHT
Have you ever felt that the world was closing in on you? Have you ever felt that no matter what you did, no matter how much you tried and struggled to get ahead, or at least to keep your head above water, that it was hopeless? Have you ever looked around and watched as others seemed to get ahead and yet nothing worked for you? Have you ever felt like the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?
You try to take care of your health and still get sick, while others do everything doctors tell them not to and remain healthy. You work and save and try to get ahead, but the bills keep piling up, while your neighbor up the street lives like life is a party and never seems to go without. You pray, spend time with your children and spouse, but things are rough at home, while others ignore their families and things seem to work out for them. You study, pray, visit, and prepare your lesson; you try to be the best teacher or church worker you can, and yet you don’t see anything happening. You have prayed for that family member, for that friend, for that loved one, and yet you can’t see a thing happening in his life. Sometimes it seems that no matter what you do or try, that all of the cards are stacked against you. Forget the light at the end of the tunnel. You can’t even find the tunnel.
Let me tell you right now, there is not a person alive who hasn’t experienced frustration at one time or another. There isn’t a person alive who hasn’t known pain and discouragement before, but as with all others problems in life, God can deal with it. God will give you help and hope for the future, when there is no hope in sight.
Open your Bibles with me this morning to Jeremiah chapter 33 and verse 1. Jeremiah chapter 33 and verse 1. Look with me this morning as we see together God’s promise for the future when there’s no hope in sight.
- Read Jeremiah 33:1-9
I. A HOPELESS SITUATION
As we think of Jeremiah and this passage of scripture this morning, I would like you to notice Jeremiah’s hopeless situation.
If you and I were to go back and read through the pages of the book of Jeremiah, we would find that Jeremiah has lived a pretty tough life. For over 40 years now, he has served as the counselor, as the confidant, of the kings of Judah, but none has listened.
Jerusalem is now surrounded. Babylon’s armies now surround the city. Their armies are lined up in rows with no visible gap. The siege ramps are under construction. The walls and then the city of Jerusalem itself will soon fall. With Jerusalem, the nation of Judah will fall.
There is every reason for despair. Israel has been struck a mortal blow by God. There is no cure for the wound. Any competent physician would have considered the nation’s condition quite hopeless. In fact, no physician would ever have accepted the case. Apparently, there is nothing left to do but to wait for the patient, for the nation to die.
And where is Jeremiah, that great man of God? Where is he while Jerusalem, Judah and Israel are about to be overwhelmed? Where is that great preacher who has warned the rulers and the people for generations, that they had better turn back to God before His judgment comes? Where is that man who has spent his life so obediently serving God, and warning others like God commanded? Where is Jeremiah?
Jeremiah is in jail. He is in prison. Verse 1 says that he is shut up in the guard’s courtyard. The leaders of Jerusalem had gotten tired of hearing Jeremiah preach, they had gotten tired of hearing him warn about God’s judgment, so they put him in prison. The fact that the city is now surrounded and it seems that the prophet’s preaching is coming true, hasn’t helped matters at all. So they lock Jeremiah up. Here is innocent Jeremiah, doing everything he knows to do and everything God has told him to do, and yet the rulers locked him up. They thought that would hold him.
Prison accommodations are limited in Jerusalem, since the Jewish government prefers a more permanent means of dealing with criminals. But, they are afraid to kill Jeremiah in public where it might upset some folks, so they lock him up where they hope he will starve. They think they will do him in. They hope that he will die.
Silly people. No confinement can deprive God’s people of His presence. No locks or bars can shut out His visits. It is when things are the darkest, when there is no hope or help in sight that God often visits His people.
Tell me, when did an angel first visit Daniel? Wasn’t it when he was in the lion’s den? When did Shadrack, Meshack, & Abednigo see the Son of God? Wasn’t it when they were in the fiery furnace? When did an angel visit Peter? Wasn’t it when he was in prison? Sometimes God allows discouragement; sometimes He allows disappointment and frustration just to cause you to turn to Him; just to cause you to be receptive to His visit.
I don’t know what you’re going through right now. I don’t know what’s sapping your strength, what has you concerned, or what’s stealing your sleep. I don’t know what has you running, trying to bury yourself in work or recreation just so you won’t have to face it. I don’t know what has you overwhelmed or worried, but whatever it is, I believe God has a word for you this morning. The same request, the same command and promise He made to Jeremiah so long ago. Look with me again please at verse 3.
- Read 33:3
II. AN AMAZING PROMISE
Did you hear that amazing promise? Did you hear God’s command and promise? God says, “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and wondrous things you do not know.”
Now, think about the Jeremiah’s situation again. Jeremiah is in the city of Jerusalem, which is surrounded by a huge army. Babylon has already begun building siege works and ramps to invade the city. Inside the city, hunger has begun to hit the people. They are cut off from their farms outside the walls. The besieged people have already torn down some of the rulers’ houses to repair the walls, and to make room to bury the bodies that are starting to stack up in the city.
Now, not only is Jeremiah in a town in such a terrible situation, but he is also locked up within that besieged city. If there was ever anyone who should be without hope, it’s Jeremiah. If there was ever anyone who should despair, it was Jeremiah. But in the midst of all of that, God issued a command. “Call unto Me.”
What did God ask Jeremiah to do when he was at his wit’s end? What did God ask Jeremiah to do when things seemed helpless and hopeless? He said simply, “Call unto Me.” In other words, “Pray.”
God told Jeremiah, just as He’s told you and me, “Pray.” When things seem dark, when the horizon is cloudy, when there is no hope in sight, “Pray.”
A. WHO PROMISES
But with the command comes a promise. It is a promise so important, so great, that God signs the promise with His own name. 4 times in verses 1 & 2 He signs His name, “Yahweh,” just like a name on a contract, guaranteeing it will be performed.
This is no wimpy little god making this promise. This is no wimpy little know nothing, hear nothing, do nothing god. This is YAHWEH! This is the Creator of heaven and earth. The One Who made you and I and everything we see. GOD!
**##** Tell somebody, “God is GOD!” Tell somebody, “My GOD isn’t a wimp!” He is God! Creator of heaven and earth. Maker of all we see. He is the inventor of dirt.
He is:
El-Shaddai – The Almighty God
El-Elyon – The Most High God
El-Olam – The God of Eternity
El-Berith – God of the Covenant
El-Roi The God Who Sees me
He is Elohim
Yahweh-Jireh – The Lord will provide
Yahew-Nissi – The Lord is my Banner
Yahweh-Mekaddesh – The Lord Who Sanctifies
Yahweh-Shalom – The Lord is Peace
Yahweh-Sabaoth – The Lord of Hosts
Yahweh-Rohi – The Lord is my Shepherd
Yahweh-Tsidkenu – The Lord is our righteousness
Yahweh-Shammah – The Lord is There
He is Adonai – Our Lord
The Ancient of Days
The Rock, our Refuge, a Fortress, a Shield, the Sun, the Purifier.
God is our King, our Judge, and our Shepherd. He is Abba, our Father. He is the Father of Mercies, the Father of Lights, and the Father of Glories.
He is the Great I AM. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
That God. The God Who created the heavens and the earth. The God Who formed man from the dust of the ground. The God Who sent waters to flood the earth; fire and brimstone to destroy Sodom & Gomorrah, and His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. That God makes a promise.
B. WHAT IS PROMISED
1. He will answer – First, God promises to answer your prayer. He will hear. He will listen to your prayer.
I think one of the saddest inventions they ever came up with is Caller ID. Oh, it’s a terrible thing. It was bad enough when they came out with answering machines, so you could screen your calls to decide whether or not you wanted to answer them. But now, they have caller ID. All you have to do is look at your phone or the Caller ID box, and you see in an instant who’s calling. Then you can decide whether or not you want to answer it. I’m glad some of you haven’t gotten one yet, or I’d probably never get to talk to you.
Gladys and I decided some time ago that we had better never get one or we’d be standing around the phone saying, “You get it. No, you get it. I talked to him last time. It’s your turn.”
But my friend, God, the Almighty, All-Knowing, Ever-Present God, He knows everything. He knows when it’s you calling and He knows it before you even begin to place the call. God says, “Call me, and I will listen.” I will answer.
He makes a second promise as well.
2. He will show you great things – He will show you things beyond your imagination or comprehension. I believe this promise will be fulfilled, it will be kept to 3 groups of people.
a) Those who don’t know Him yet – First, I believe that God makes this promise, that He will keep this promise to those who don’t know Him yet. He makes this promise to people who haven’t yet made Him their Lord and Savior.
Perhaps some of you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You haven’t invited Him into your heart. You have never told Him, “Jesus, I am tired of living my life my own way. I am tired of being defeated. Please forgive me and come into my heart.” You’ve never told Him that. As a matter of fact, you can’t even understand why anyone would. After all, isn’t Christianity a bunch of rules and regulations? Won’t it cramp your style?
Sir, Mam, young person. Please listen closely. Are you listening? You will never understand joy, you will never understand how great life can really be until you step out in faith and say, “Jesus, I give all I know of me to all I know of You.”
> 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
In other words, the Bible says you will never understand how great it is to be a Christian, you will never understand how great it is to give Jesus control of your life, until you do so.
My son Drew asks some tough questions sometimes. Things like, “How do you know when you’re in love?” “How do you know if you’re supposed to marry someone?” Tough questions. Things that are hard to answer.
Let me ask you, how can you explain love to someone who’s never been in love? How can you describe beauty to someone who’s never seen? How do you describe a child’s laugh to someone who’s never heard? How do describe fullness, to someone who’s never had enough to eat? You can’t.
And until you turn your life over to Jesus Christ, there is no way I can accurately describe to you, how great life can be.
Jesus says in John 6:37,
> John 6:37 the one who comes to me I will never cast out.
My friend, Jesus will never turn you down if you call on Him; and God will show you how great life can really be. You have His word on it.
God makes this promise to those of you who don’t know Him yet. He also makes this promise to those of you who know Him but who are discouraged by circumstances.
b) Those who are discouraged by circumstances - Jeremiah was a faithful man. He never quit trusting God. He was an obedient man. He went and did everything God told him to. Yet, in spite of Jeremiah’s faith and his obedience, he still had difficulties. He still had to go through hard times.
Some people have the mistaken idea that if you become a Christian, that if you turn your life over to Jesus, that everything from that day forward will be hunky-doory. Some people believe that God promised them if they follow Him they will never have difficulties in their lives. That’s a bunch of nonsense. God never said there wouldn’t be difficulties in life if you became a Christian. What He did promise, though, is that He would go through the hard times with you and use them for your benefit.
A young boy, watching a butterfly struggling to escape from a cocoon, thought he would help. So he tore the cocoon open to let the butterfly out. What he got, though, was a butterfly with weak, trembling wings, unable to fly. He didn’t realize that the butterfly needed to struggle against the cocoon, because it was that struggle that pushed the fluids into his wings. It was the struggle that caused his wings to be strong enough for him to fly. Without the struggle, he was helpless and hopeless.
God doesn’t promise to take the struggles out of your life, but He does promise to use them for your benefit.
> Romans 8:28 All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
If you are in the middle of a struggle right now, if you are discouraged and frustrated, if you feel like throwing in the towel, God promises relief. He says, “Call on Me. Let Me show you that these things are going to pass. Let Me show you how I am working in your life.
God is speaking to those who don’t know Him yet. He is speaking to those discouraged by circumstances. He also makes this promise to those who are serving Him now.
C) Those who are serving Him now –
One of the easiest ways in the world to get discouraged is by serving God and by caring for people. You love people. You care about them, and so you do everything you know to do to help them. You pray for the, tell them about how Christ can make a difference in their lives. You do everything you know to do and yet you can’t see anything happening. They keep repeating the same mistakes and it seems that nothing you do makes any difference. Or, you have a burden for the church, and so you pray and witness and visit and tithe and do everything you know to do, and yet you can’t see anything happening. You’re not seeing any progress at all. You visit and pray and do all you know to do to help folks, and yet it seems like you are wasting your time.
To you who are faithfully serving God and yet are discouraged, God says this, Call unto Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
Will you call Him this morning?
