A Message of Hope

I realize that many of my posts have been expressing more sadness than I usually feel. While I cannot put it exactly to words in something as simple as a blog post what it is that I am going through, I can tell you that I have been given glimmers of hope and that God is coming through for me.

For FCA I am writing a study on Psalms that will take us through the next few months. The book of Psalms is a collection of David’s prayers and musings—(this blog could be considered similar as a modernized version, although my words can be hardly considered inspired like David's were). David expresses great joy, asks for forgiveness, requests aid, and interestingly enough, he demands to know where God is. Phrases like “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” “Oh Lord do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath,” and “For if YOU remain silent I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.” These hardly express the joy we are accustomed to feeling, or even the joy promised to us in church. So here’s a good question: is David doing something wrong? I mean, if any man is a role model for us to what a relationship with God should look like David is that man.

That is a true statement, David has often been described as a “man after God’s own heart.” There aren’t many men in history who exemplify what it means to be a friend of God like David does, which speaks volumes about the Psalms. David feels pain, he suffers, and he feels lonely. Just because I am going through a rough patch in my life reflects nothing on my faith, but instead on the fact that I am human. I am a man, I feel pain and hurt, I lose energy and feel like giving up. Does that mean that I am not close enough to God, or not reading my Bible enough? No. We are not given Bluetooth sets that connect to Heaven upon the moment of our spiritual birth. No, sometimes we drop the connection, sometimes we become isolated and our faith starts to falter. Even Jesus, in His hour of death, cried out against God. Jesus is fully God, yet the human part of Him could not take the pain, stress, hurt and sorrow. Take hope! God knows how you feel.

Have you fallen down? Have you given up? Well do not lose hope and never lose faith. There is a God out there who loves you, who understands, and more importantly He is reaching out to you right now. I may feel alone in the world, but am I really? I have family, and friends who reach across the country just to tell me it is OK. I have friends here on campus who believe in me and want to see me succeed and carry out God’s good work. I may not have found the peace I desire, but God has healed me, in part, of my sadness by showing me that it is ok to fail.