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Trusting in God when all seems Hopeless
Okay so i found myself sending this individually to a few people so i thought it would be best to post in on here with the hope it can encourage more people, like it has been encouraging me recently.
An interesting theme i keep coming across recently is trusting God when there seems to be little or no hope.
The Book of Habakkuk, seems to be all about that, Habakkuk seems to complain to God twice about the situation, feeling oppressed and overwhelmed with wickedness. Yet God replies, showing that he is in fact is in control and justice will be brought at the appropriate time, showing Habakkuk the bigger picture.
Habakkuk finally understands this at the end and replies with praise to God.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.”
Habakkuk eventually is able to see the bigger picture to know God is with him and is his salvation. Looking at these events from our small perspective would lead to a feeling of ovewhelming doom, yet when we know the sovereign God is on our side and he cares for us, we know we will be okay.
Matthew 6:26
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
This is something that Naomi in the book of Ruth fails to understand, in the time of a famine, she leaves Judah for Moab, a place of different Gods. This ultimately lead to more suffering when she lost her husband and sons, leaving her and her two daughters in law.
This is a hopeless situation, especially as Jesus was to come from that line and be born in Bethlehem not Moab. If we finish the story here then it would be pretty depressing, but thankfully God is in control and he brings Naomi with Ruth back, we can see the effect of not relying on God though in Ruth 1:21
“I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”“
Now because Naomi left the promised land, and Gods people she lost all spiritual nourishment and her heart grew harder towards God. It can be the same with us when we face tough times and we decide not to go to church, not to pray about it or seek fellowship from our fellow believers. When we think we can sort the mess out ourselves, we often end up getting into worse mess.
Thankfully though God is graceful with us and even after than he brings them back, back to a time when there was a harvest and the famine was over. We eventually see that Boaz marry’s Ruth and God restores all hope in what was a hopeless situation.
Its awesome when you see several things in the bible link together like this. I hope this somehow encourages you, if there is anything you are going through which is frustrating or draining that this will show you how much bigger God is than that and he will bring you out of it and give you hope Pretty sweet huh.
Ultimately, God is bigger than your situation,
” Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.”
(Jeremiah 23:23-24 ESV)
Okay so i found myself sending this individually to a few people so i thought it would be best to post in on here with the hope it can encourage more people, like it has been encouraging me recently.
An interesting theme i keep coming across recently is trusting God when there seems to be little or no hope.
The Book of Habakkuk, seems to be all about that, Habakkuk seems to complain to God twice about the situation, feeling oppressed and overwhelmed with wickedness. Yet God replies, showing that he is in fact is in control and justice will be brought at the appropriate time, showing Habakkuk the bigger picture.
Habakkuk finally understands this at the end and replies with praise to God.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.”
Habakkuk eventually is able to see the bigger picture to know God is with him and is his salvation. Looking at these events from our small perspective would lead to a feeling of ovewhelming doom, yet when we know the sovereign God is on our side and he cares for us, we know we will be okay.
Matthew 6:26
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
This is something that Naomi in the book of Ruth fails to understand, in the time of a famine, she leaves Judah for Moab, a place of different Gods. This ultimately lead to more suffering when she lost her husband and sons, leaving her and her two daughters in law.
This is a hopeless situation, especially as Jesus was to come from that line and be born in Bethlehem not Moab. If we finish the story here then it would be pretty depressing, but thankfully God is in control and he brings Naomi with Ruth back, we can see the effect of not relying on God though in Ruth 1:21
“I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”“
Now because Naomi left the promised land, and Gods people she lost all spiritual nourishment and her heart grew harder towards God. It can be the same with us when we face tough times and we decide not to go to church, not to pray about it or seek fellowship from our fellow believers. When we think we can sort the mess out ourselves, we often end up getting into worse mess.
Thankfully though God is graceful with us and even after than he brings them back, back to a time when there was a harvest and the famine was over. We eventually see that Boaz marry’s Ruth and God restores all hope in what was a hopeless situation.
Its awesome when you see several things in the bible link together like this. I hope this somehow encourages you, if there is anything you are going through which is frustrating or draining that this will show you how much bigger God is than that and he will bring you out of it and give you hope Pretty sweet huh.
Ultimately, God is bigger than your situation,
” Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.”
(Jeremiah 23:23-24 ESV)
