Hurting, Yet Hopeful

One of the life lessons that I have learned that has been so important is that joy and pain can co-exist. Life can be both hurtful and hopeful. You can be living in pain and suffering, while also experiencing joy.

For a time in my life, hope was something I was longing for. I was living in deep pain and disappointment. I wanted to know that there was goodness coming after all of the hard. I wanted to be told, “I know it’s hard now, but there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel.” And I was told this, but I wasn’t quite able to believe it at times. Hope felt very distant from my life.

I was reading a book with a good definition of hope. It said, “to hope is to acknowledge reality in the very same breath that I acknowledge God’s sovereignty.” To have hope in the midst of hardships does not mean that we are ignoring the pain and suffering that we are living. We are acknowledging those hurts, but also acknowledging the power of God, the power of His love and His goodness and His perfect plan for our lives. If we find hope in our people and our circumstances we will be ultimately disappointed. We need to anchor our hope in God and His promises.

Whether you walking through the most joyous and beautiful moments of your life or standing in a pile of broken pieces of your life figuring out how to put them back together, you can anchor your hope in God, knowing that no matter what happens in the next few minutes or years that hope will remain firm and secure. 

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” - Hebrews 6:19a