Dare to Hope
“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this…”
Lamentations 3:21 (NLT)
Have you ever cried until the tears would no longer come and your heart was broken in tiny pieces? Have you ever uttered, “Everything I hope for from the Lord is lost?” Then you, me and Jeremiah make three.
I won’t ever forget those long nights of crying myself to sleep. Some nights only silent tears would fall; other nights, wails accompanied questions and prayers. “Why Lord? What am I doing wrong? Why won’t you just fix his problems?” The prayers would end with “if it is Your will,” hoping that His will was different than what it appeared to be.
On these nights I would curl up in a ball under my covers, face the wall and hope this time there would be a break-through in my prayers but down inside I believed everything I had hoped for was lost.
Jeremiah cried until no more tears would come (Lamentations 2:11, NLT). His heart was broken for Jerusalem and for God’s people, his people. In anguish he lamented the words, “Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost” (Lamentations 3:18, NLT).
Then, out of the midst of his despair, he dared. He dared to hope in what he remembered.
When we fear all hope is gone we can find new hope the same way Jeremiah found hope: by remembering.
His remembering changed his perspective on his present situation. Jeremiah dared to hope and so can we. We can hear the hope return to Jeremiah as we read his remembering. (Lamentations 3:21-24)
“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends!His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance: therefore, I will hope in him!”
I tarried in the pit of despair much longer than necessary, but when I remembered God’s faithfulness and mercies to me I dared to hope.
Now it’s your turn to hope. Go ahead…I dare you.
Great encouragement Wendy! I love Jeremiah!
Thank you.
Blessings,
Lynne
Wendy – thank you for this post today. Yesterday, I was remembering things said to me in the past that led me down the road of negative emotions, driving my confidence off the road and into the ditch. Today, you have reminded me to stop digging in the trash of my past and rehearsing those words but to rehearse the words of my God. I cried when I read this today. Today, I choose to remember God’s love towards me, His faithfulness, His mercies which are new each day. I choose to remember my hope is in Christ alone. Blessings to you!
I feel like this was personally to me. Thank you so much for the reminder that God never fails. He alone is our hope even when we can not see any hope in sight!
Vicki
Wendy, I started out the day feeling hopeful and confident but as the day moved on, I had failed miserably in a Lenten commitment to God and started to feel like I was never gonna get it right. I get caught up in the moment and forget my promises. Anyway, this post reminds me to never lose hope. His mercies are new every day. I won’t give up! My hope is in the Lord!
I so look forward to your posts. They always seem to meet the need of the moment in my life. I especially love the songs you pick occasionally- my all time favorite has got to me the flash mob – All Praise is To Our God!
Thank you for your love and transparency, your sensitivity to the Spirit. God bless YOU today!
I too thank you for the reminder to ‘not lose hope’…
I’ve been in the pit of addiction for many years. It’s an endless cycle. It’s awful… I pray God will remove the great urges i have to do what is very harmful to me, and others, in all areas of my life.
I’m kinda at my last hope. Please pray for me? (any suggestions are welcome)
thank you Wendy for your love and blessings.
Praying for you Felice! My God is ABLE …………
Lyn
Thank God for this ministry and people like Wendy Pope and all the other incredible sister Christian warriors. I needed to read these words today. THANK YOU.
Please pray for Mark Hall, the lead singer of Casting Crowns. The surgery is today and he needs all of our prayers.