Barely Hanging Onto Hope

Have you ever met those that are barely hanging onto hope? No matter what they do, what they try, how hard they pray or what changes they make things seem to get worse before they get better. That was the case for Job. There were seasons in King David's life when hope faded in the dusk of trials.

Over the years I have seen many who barely held onto hope. I think about a lady who spent nine straight months in the hospital. When her insurance refused to pay anymore the hospital sent her home. We once took our Wednesday evening church service to her hospital room to encourage her. I watched her barely hold onto hope along with her husband and children.

This morning I flipped through the pages of an old church directory. I counted nine of those people who died in the past few years. I then began recounting the numerous trials others have endured. So many barely clinging to hope for better days. So many gutting out hard days. So many living in grief. So many beyond exhausted but the trials keep coming.

Psalm 31:24 (NASB) 
²⁴  Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.

It takes a measure of strength to hang onto hope. Like a person hanging onto the end of a rope dangling from a cliff. You have reposition your grip on hope. The kind of strength often needed is not so much physical strength, but  spiritual strength and emotional strength. God is the source of hope. He gives it even in the darkness and life's harshness.

 It also takes courage to hope. That might not sound very deep but it takes courage to hang onto hope in hopeless circumstances. Courage can be defined in this passage to mean to be stout and determined. There are enough things in this world that can rob people of hope. You have to be determined to hang onto hope. It takes a lot o prayer and a lot of Bible study and meditation. Summoning the courage to hope is both a grace of God and a daily grind. We must remain determined to choose hope over doubt. Day in and day out it takes dogged determination to keep trusting God  and hang onto hope when everything around you screams to doubt and despair. 

The word hope in Psalm 31:24 means to wait expectantly. We are supposed to determine to hang onto hope. In that hope we are to wait expectantly for God to intervene. We should wake up every day thinking this is the day when God comes through. This is the day when the mountain gets moved. This is the day when God heals. This is the day when God provides. This is the day when God delivers. This is the day when God restores. This is the day when God breaks ffathrough. This is the day when God saves. This is the day when God counsels which direction to take.

Most of us do not live that way. When prayers go unanswered for a period time it is easier to lose hope. It is easier to wake up everyday not believing that anything will change. It is easier to cope with  nothing changing than to hold onto hope and have those hopes disappointed at the end of a day, week, month, decade and a lifetime.

Hanging onto hope is gritty stuff. It takes strength and determined courage. So for all of you barely hanging onto hope today. I pray Ps 31:24 gives you a little soul nourishment for the journey and the strength and courage to keep going and to keep hanging onto hope no matter what you are up against.