All day long my television blares out all the things
I need to make me happy. It tells me what I am supposed to wear and smell like
to be successful too. It tells me how I
am supposed to feel after eating at a certain place or trying a new
product. Promises, promises! All of
these things give false hope are temporary and all will fade away.
In the face of the trials so many of our Christian
brothers and sisters are confronted with every day none of that stuff matters.
In fact, if you were to ask them about the importance of any of those things I
listed above they would laugh in your face.
The counselee’s that I meet with each week could not
care less about any of those things because they are facing very difficult
trials. I spoke with someone today whose husband threw her out, and another who
has been abandoned by hers. These women are brokenhearted and their lives are
in shambles.
I can’t tell them that everything is going to be
alright or that their husbands will come back home because I don’t know that. I
don’t know the future but I do know the One who does.
The hope I can offer is that God has not and will
not reject her and that He loves her. I can remind them that the Lord is very
familiar with rejection (Isa. 53:3) and the pain they currently are experiencing.
I tell her of the hope of her eternal destination and how when she sees Jesus
He will wipe away every tear and there will be no more sorrow.
I cannot tell her how God will meet the needs of everyday life, but I can tell her He
will. God is faithful
to take care of His own in every respect (Matt. 6:25-32). I can remind her of His faithfulness
throughout history to His people, providing meat and water in the middle of the
desert (Gen. 16-17) and how they never went hungry and their clothes never wore
out. I can give her recent accounts of
God providing the necessary funds for people I know, providing a home for a family who recently
lost theirs, and providing “just enough” to tide them over until payday.
I want her to look for God in the midst of her wilderness because
I know she will find Him there. I want
to point her to the Everlasting God, the Faithful Providing One, the God Who
Hears who will never leave her or forsake her.
I want her to immerse herself in Him and His Word to strengthen
herself for the difficult and emotionally draining days ahead. I want her to
know that He is enough and that He will sustain her through this time. This is what gives hope.