Each of us has a story, a story of how we became who we are today. Our journey through life can be a long and winding road. It teaches us lessons that sometimes we are not ready to learn.
I’ve battled some things in life that I wish I didn’t have to go through. Trying to find sense of it only leads to more confusion. I’m learning to let go and trust God with the finer details of my life especially when it comes to finding true peace.
What I’m referring to is my battle with spiritual depression. I’ve had to walk through some dark days when I thought all hope was gone. When I thought I was completely and utterly alone, I wasn’t, I still had Jesus.
Jesus was there as a beacon of light, guiding me out of a shadowy pit. When I thought I was worthless and unloved. Jesus reminded me that I was engraved on the palm of His hand. (Isaiah 49:16)
Hope is what keeps us going in life. It is the lifeblood of all living beings, especially in the times we are now living in where hope seems lost.
Jesus has shown me that if I trust Him, He will protect me. Scripture reminds us of this in Isaiah 54:17. “But no weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgement you shall show to be in the wrong.”
My fight with spiritual depression has made me a soldier of Jesus Christ. It has strengthened me in ways I didn’t think possible. Day after day I struggled to come to terms with it. I was worried about what people would think if they found out. Would they accept me for who I am?
I now realise that God uses ordinary people like you and me. He uses the broken and he uses the lost. He equips you for everything you need to face in life.
He takes the bad and turns it into something wonderful. Romans 8:28 “We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labour] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
I’ve been hiding who I am for far too long. Fear crippled me into believing that there was no hope left. Anxiety washed over me when I thought I wasn’t good enough.
But Jesus always stepped in on my behalf and fought my battles. He was the love I needed to defend me when I thought I was defenseless. Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]”
The Enemy used shame against me. He knew that as long as I hid my secret, I had a stronghold over my life. The stronghold broke through prayer and by reading the Word of God. They were the doorway to activate the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Enemy’s power is not as mighty as God’s. Jesus Christ is all-powerful and all-knowing. Satan has no authority when God is in control.
Jesus died on a cross that was made from a tree. The palms of his hand and the ankles of his feet were nailed to this tree. How did he stay in faith and keep hopeful?
He did this by trusting His Father in heaven. His Father in heaven would have been looking down upon Him with tears in His eyes knowing that His Son was about to die for humanity.
Hope will elude you if you do not trust God. Through trusting Jesus, it will exercise our faith and help us grow.
I Corinthians 14:13 reminds us “And so faith, hope, love abide {faith – conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope – joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love – true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us} these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
Faith Truth and Wisdom Ministries 