Holding Hope In A Dark World

Lately it seems as though the world has just lost it’s mind, doesn’t it?  I mean it just seems as though the world has become cold, and cruel, and heartless.  Where is the love? So hard to find, and what about faith and hope?  These things were here before, where did they go, and who, or what, took them? Are they really gone, or just seemingly so? Has the worlds darkness and coldness taken them away?  Can we get them back, and bring light and warmth back to this cold and dark world?  Can we turn back the clocks, and change our world?

My friend, faith, hope, and love resides in you.  It has not left you, nor this world unless you have kicked it out of your life.  Darkness tries to cover your heart, the more you allow it to do so, the less room you have for the light.  We have more darkness in our world than we probably ever have.  We see and hear things in the media every time we turn around, and with each sadness or disgust, slowly our hope, and faith begin to diminish, and darkness moves in.  Don’t you see it’s a battle?  It is the biggest spiritual battle this world has ever seen, or at least in my lifetime.  The enemy is not coming at the world all at once.  He has really thought this one out.  He is coming slowly, one by one.  He is using the media, people in our lives, our constitutional rights, and the most horrific, he is using our own hearts against us.  He doesn’t come all at once, he very slowly, inches his way in, and you are left wondering what happened.  You never saw it coming, and you didn’t even know it was happening within your own heart.

The more we fall into his trap and play his game, the more ground he gains within us and others.  So, can he be stopped?  Can we win this battle?  The answer, my friend, is yes, by all means.  If we don’t give the enemy any ground to step on, he will be defeated.  Don’t give the enemy a foothold on your heart.  Keep him out of your mind, and your heart.  Hold  onto your light and block him with it, don’t let him in.

So how do we keep our hope, our love , and faith then?  Simply by trusting in your Saviour who died on the cross to give you all of those things.  You can trust in Jesus Christ with all your soul, that does not mean you will not be attacked, and that’s ok, because God has got his hand in the entire battle, and though you may fall, God will always pull you back up.   So while for a time in the battle the enemy may for a time cover the gifts your Saviour died to give you, he cannot take them away.  It became so much easier when I realized, the enemy can cause pain in my life, but just like his promises all being empty, so are his battles.  He can’t kill me, he can’t take my life, and he can’t take my soul.  I know that because God simply wont allow it, and I know that from Job 1;12 (concerning Job) The Lord said to Satan “Very well then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”  See Satan can come at us with everything he has but he cannot harm us, he can only bring us down by worldly things.  Job kept his faith through his entire battle.  Everything he had was ripped from him, he lost everything, but he kept his faith.  When it was all over God blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first.  I don’t know ’bout you but I have never heard of an easy battle of any sort.  This is a hard sad world we live in, but that is just it, we live in it.  It is not our permanent home.  We are in this world, but we are not of this world.

I am recalling the movie “The Never Ending Story”, if I recall correctly, it was about a spiritual battle, the boy was fighting this thing called “the nothing”.  The nothing caused sadness, to the point of killing all living things.  Look at our world, does it not look like our world?  The enemy uses the sadness you feel to break your hope.  Your hope is a gift from God, so he can’t take it from you, however; he can cover it for a time, Don’t let him break your faith enough to take your hope.

My favorite verse is Jeremiah 29;11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not harm you, Plans to give you hope and a future.  When I recall this verse I am reminded of my hope.  I am also reminded God’s in total control, his plans are already set for me, so I don’t have to worry.  God is telling us in this verse he wants us to have hope.  So how do we get our hope back and change our world?  We put our faith in God our Father, and in Jesus Christ, our Saviour, and one by one, inch by inch the same way our hope was covered, is the same way it will shine again.

 If we are not the light in the world, then who will be?  Who can you count on to bring light and warmth to this world?  Only the Father can do that, but he gave us candles, each and every one of us.  We need to keep them lit.  If it’s light burns out how will people know where to find the hope, the love, and the faith?  We are to be God’s light in this dark world, if your candle burns out and it cannot be re-lit, someone else with a lit candle can help you re-light yours.  Keep your flames burning, and one by one, inch by inch through Jesus Christ we will bring hope, light, and warmth back to this world.

~Heather Ann~