Do Not Despair

A few weeks ago I came across something that grabbed my attention. This particular lady was desperately asking why Christians say nothing is impossible with God and I realized that so many people are in a similar state.

“What does this mean because when I look at my life, it seems impossible that I will ever be functional and free from pain and suffering? I know I’m still alive but I have tried everything that I can and my life has continued to spiral downward. All I can see is my life has been damaged beyond the possibility of hope? So why do people say nothing is impossible? Is that true? Is it possible I can have a good life even in the horrendous condition my life is in - with God’s help? If so, how do I get God to help me because I pray and try and get nothing but despair?"

We often create unnecessary and unrealistic expectations to potential children of God. We often portray the Christian walk of life as a smooth journey. Reality is that following Jesus calls for going beyond the honeymoon stage and start walking the walk of faith which has its twists and turns.

The walk of faith unfortunately (or fortunately) takes us through valleys of darkness, where you feel like God is not there. These are the times when you feel like you will never be free from the pain and suffering. However, we have to hold fast to our faith because “we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God,” (Acts 14:22 NKJV).

Like the person quoted above, there are many people who have lost hope and believe in their hearts that they will never get out of that situation. Such people are often vulnerable and my fear is that they may fall in the wrong hands and be deceived into believing that God does not care about them.

I mentioned in a previous article that the enemy delights in taking advantage of such people and plants deceptive thoughts in their minds. The first thing that the devil enjoys doing is to twist and eventually turn the truth upside down. For instance in the case above, the enemy led this person into doubting what the infallible Scripture declares, “For with God nothing will be impossible,” (Luke 1:37 NKJV).

Remember the parable of the Sower? “But he who received the seed on stony places; this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles,” (Matthew 13:20-21 NKJV).

I have come to realized that the enemy will always find a way to take away the word of God from you. I note that “tribulation or persecution arises because of the word” and I realize that the enemy is attracted by the word hence he tempts you with suffering so that you may start questioning the truth in the word. He knows that faith comes by hearing the word of God. In order for you to lose your faith in God, his strategy borders around taking away the word of God from you.

The person quoted above questions, “… how do I get God to help me because I pray and try and get nothing but despair?” She has been running a good race, looking up to God for answers. However, she is lacking the confidence and faith in God’s answering her prayers. You may be in a similar where you feel like God has abandoned you. My prayer is that you do not fall in the wrong hands.

An answer to this question (marked as the best answer!) was, “What I like about this is that they [i.e. Christians] say nothing is impossible, when you confront them with an impossible scenario, they say you are praying wrong. If anything is possible with God, why are there crippled, blind, deaf, poor, homeless, hungry and amputees in the world? Are their prayers not as important?”

Basically, the answer was suggesting that it is not true that all things are possible with God; this lady was wasting her time in trying to find solace in God! These are the kind of influences that persuade you into believing that God cannot deliver you from your troubles, especially when you are in a vulnerable state. “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you,” (Galatians 5: 7-8 NIV).

Dear friend, if you have come to the point where you think God is not being fair to you, wait a moment, you are not alone. I know it is easier said than done – God is always there and all you need is to turn back to Him. How you react to your situation now is what matters the most.

I was reading the story of king Asa who was a righteous man and during his reign as the king of Judah there were no wars for 36 years until he decided to rely on the king of Syria instead of God to defeat the king of Israel. God sent Hanani to tell Asa that he has done a foolish thing and therefore he would start experiencing wars. Asa was angry with Hanani and put him in prison and oppressed some of the people at that time.

Asa’s story is a sad one. “And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign,” (2 Chronicles 16:12-13).

God just wants you to put your trust in Him. I am particularly moved by God’s response to Jeremiah’s complaint. God’s own prophet, Jeremiah came to a point where he questioned why God was allowing the pain he was suffering to go on continuously and his wounds incurable. He even questioned God’s reliability, likening Him to an unreliable stream and a spring that fails.

God, in his abundant mercy did not consider all these utterances. He simply said, “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, and not worthless, words you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,” (Jeremiah 15:19-20 NIV).

My dear friend, trust in God’s unfailing love. He has not promised that you will not suffer tribulations but he has promised that the tribulations will not overcome you. God is with you in whatever situation and when you believe, nothing is impossible with Him.

The most important thing for any man coming to God is to have faith. If he does not stand firm in his faith he will not stand at all. “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord,” (James 1:6-7 NIV).

God loves and cares for us. Nothing else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. Just because the people trying to sympathize with you lack faith in God, it does not mean that their faithlessness nullifies God’s faithfulness. Just put all your trust in Him.

“Trust in Him AT ALL TIMES, you people. Pour out your heart before Him, God is a refuge for us,” (Psalm 62:8 NKJV).