Have you ever been in a hard season where most of your prayers are spent asking God to intervene and do something to stop your suffering? Maybe you’re pleading with Him to fix you… fix your circumstances… fix your marriage.
I have certainly had times in my life just like that. As I’ve been dealing with some health issues, I’m in one of those seasons right now. The human heart can grow weary in suffering; not one of us is immune to that weariness.
Being in this place, I was recently drawn to a podcast episode by a fellow therapist titled “Is Hope Reasonable?” As a believer, I know this answer. Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave on the third day, hope is possible and reasonable to believe in. But this episode took the encouragement of hope a step further by speaking to the weary heart that had been burned before. The one with the heart that struggles to believe in hope even when they do know it exists. The heart that says, “I know you can, God, but I’m scared that you won’t.”
And if we’re honest, I think we’ve all been there before. The place where you fully believe in the sovereignty of God but also your humanness fears that His sovereignty doesn’t align with your desires.
Halfway through this episode, when talking about this weary place we can find ourselves in, where hope feels so vulnerable to grasp, a Walter Brueggeman quote was shared about what life without hope can be like.
He said, “Life becomes a dissatisfied coping, a grudging trust, and a managing that dares never ask too much.”
Are you gritting your teeth and just getting by, pouring out every ounce of effort to trust God, or perhaps you’re withholding your true request because you fear the answer is no?
Maybe you’re in a place where you know that God can heal you but are worried that He won’t.
Maybe you’re where you desperately need God to intervene, or your marriage is over.
Maybe you’re in a place where everything has been so hard for so long, and you’re unsure if you or your marriage can ever be put back together.
A place where hope is unsure or even scary.
First of all, if this is where you’re at, I’m so sorry. That is a hard place to be.
But second, the answer to the original question, Is Hope reasonable? is yes. Yes, hope is reasonable! Not just the “risen from the grave” hope, as if that wasn’t enough, but the “God spoke and created the world” kind of hope, too.
It’s as simple and profound as this; the Creator can still create.
He doesn’t just fix broken things; He creates brand-new ones. And, just as He created the world, He can create something marvelous in you or your marriage, and He can create it from nothing, from absolute scratch!
God is the ultimate Creator, and I think it’s time to start not only believing He can create brand new in your life but also asking Him to do so. Maybe you’ve lost a little hope because your suffering has been so long, or maybe it seems impossible that goodness could ever be found.
But let me tell you, let me tell myself, that hope is reasonable. And in our desperation or despair, just as He brought light into what once was complete darkness, God can always make something brand new, even if all we give Him to work with is our desperation and despair.
I sure hope that today you will take the risk in believing in hope, hope for your salvation, but also hope in having the Creator who can take whatever situation you’re in and not just fix it but make it entirely new.
May His will and power of creation be evident in your life and marriage today!
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