What To Do When All Hope Feels Lost?

Think of a moment in life where everything seemed to be going wrong. Could be the job you work at is difficult and life sucking. Maybe your closest friend betrayed you and left you heartbroken. Maybe the major you picked has you in tears as you lose sleep to barely scrape by and pass a test. Maybe the condition of the world leaves you alone at night to cry yourself to sleep. Insert the many other struggles of life.

Now imagine the moment you realized change was possible. Change that reminded you of the beautiful light to the path that often has felt like one long, dark tunnel.

Change has brought me to a place where I am finally able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. A place left to the figment of my imagination where my hope often lies. Change has cultivated the façade that somehow things will be different because of a move, a new friendship, a new job, or even simply a new hobby.

Yet this change seemed to be a brief break in the walls, to a glimpse at the glory of the outside world that only enclosed again to another long, dark tunnel. A tunnel that feels more devastating than before.

Turns out the new person, new place, and new thing still lacks the satisfaction and fulfillment my heart desperately cries out for.

“Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?”

‭‭John‬ ‭3:9-10‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

I started my new journey with the Lord about 7 years ago now. From there I have jumped all in. I have attended church weekly, I volunteer as much as I can. I go to therapy. I have worked within the walls of a church. I am pursuing a seminary degree. I have done everything I can to say the ‘right’ things and do the ‘right’ things. I have seen the light of hope many of times and yet many of times I have found myself staggering back into a dark, lonely tunnel.  In the staggering I have walked in some of the darkest and most confusing times. Lost without hope even while living a life that is seemingly perfect to everyone else.

“You are a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?”

Nicodemus a man who had everything and lived the perfect religious life. The man who knew the word of God like the back of his hand and had all the answers his entire life. The man who came to Jesus in the night and no longer could hide that he truly didn't have any answers at all.

I wonder if you too have ever felt this pain of perfection?

I write to you today walking out of a long, dark tunnel, filled with the fire of the one true hope. The hope that prepares me for the enemy’s distant tunnel ahead. Walking without fear for I stand hand in hand with my beautiful, glorious Savior. The Son of man who guides me with His word that is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path (Psalm 119:105). Whether through the tunnel of darkness or abroad in the glorious day, He is with me.

“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.””

‭‭John‬ ‭3:20-21‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

I wonder if at times darkness comes with a moon. A moon that reflects the light but covers what is the true source of light? Perfection is the evil that we often neglect to address and its deception is often the canniest of them all. Perfection is the beautiful hanging moon that subtly hints to the light, but prevents the sun from shining in its full glory and power. Where we see a glimpse of the light but only see the world in a dull jaded color.

So how do we see the light that shines with the intensity of the sun?

““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.“”

John 3:16 NASB2020

The one truth that never runs out and continuously reminds me of the hope for today, tomorrow, and all the days to come. The hope that lights my path and reveals to me a world filled with vividly beautiful colors.

I’ll leave you with a question that a friend recently left me with…

“When is the last time you shared the Gospel?”

If you’re like me, you can’t quite remember. If you’re like me, you have talked circles around God, and have neglected the very piece of life that gives any pure sense of meaning.

May the grace of the Lord come quickly, for today our hope is restored. The light of life is in the remembering of the Gospel; and when we have forgotten to share, we have often long ago forgotten the hope found in what Christ has done. Turns out the simple pursuit of the Gospel is what gives meaning to a once perfectly meaningless life.

So what do we do when all hope feels lost?

We sit with our Father long enough that the Gospel can't help but pour out of our once sin filled lips.