“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God!” (Psalm 42:5, New Living Translation).
Perhaps none of us have sung the blues like Jeremiah. This man of God went through some trying circumstances and difficult challenges to his faith. At one point of his ministry, the governmental leaders got tired of Jeremiah’s preaching and had him dumped in an old well full of muck (Jeremiah 38). He sank down to his armpits and had no hope of rescue. Talk about a discouraging situation! He was in the pits.
Fortunately, a government administrator found out what was going on and begged Israel’s king to not let the man die in that hole in the ground. They lowered a rope to him with old rags to loop under his arms and eased him out.
Beyond his personal experience, Jeremiah’s whole city was in distress. They were under siege by Babylon, and people were starving to death. Before he went into the pit, Jeremiah was preaching against sin, but also sharing the message of hope about a God who delivers His children from destruction. Once he came out of this pit of despair, his message had not changed.
We can either get sucked down by life’s trials, or choose hope through the midst of them. Most of us get off track trying to get God to cheer us up. The only thing that kept Jeremiah sane was the message of hope. He kept his spirits up by sharing the word of the Lord.
Next time you feel down, minister to someone. Share a scripture. Write a letter of encouragement. Start a blog of hope. Do something to help someone else. You’ll find that as you encourage others, you will rise out of the muck of life problems into the court of the King.
Every major character in the Bible, including Christ, suffered massive setbacks. Yet their stories continue to inspire us today because they helped others even when down themselves. Even in your darkest situations, you must “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” (I Peter 3:15, King James).
Hope doesn’t come from life’s situations, but through them.
