Courtney Gilmore Do you know what it’s like to work towards something for years and think that it’s all about to come to fruition, only to have it all fall apart? Have you ever poured all your time, energy, or money into something only to find that it was another dead end? When we put all our eggs in one basket, believing they will hatch into something wonderful for us, only for them to crack & break, leaving a mess of everything, it is hard not to lose hope.
Perhaps you’ve poured all your time and money into your own business, then ran out of money before you could get it off the ground. Maybe you have a chronic illness and you’ve been holding out for a cure, but with every failed treatment your hopes fade just a little more. You could have been trying for years to have a child just to be told it probably will never happen. Or maybe you do finally get pregnant after years of trying. You are so excited, you have all the baby things, and then you miscarry. Perhaps you have gone to all the expensive rehabs, thinking each time you will finally kick the addiction, only to relapse again and again. Maybe the cure or breakthrough is for a family member or friend and you want desperately for something to change. How will you encourage them when you are starting to lose hope yourself?
When you pour all your heart and soul, not to mention your time, energy, or money into something, only to have it all fall apart in the end, it’s devastating! I’ve been there! It’s hard to crawl your way out when it seems like all your hopes and dreams have been dashed to pieces. You feel drained and defeated and sometimes you wish you had never let yourself hope at all. Maybe the situation you were in was bad, but to be given hope that it will change, only to have it stripped away, seems even more devastating.
So, have all your dreams come true? Do you even dare to dream anymore? Sometimes, to protect ourselves from the pain of lost hope, we quit dreaming or taking risks. To never have hope at all seems better than to have it slip through your finger tips. But, what if I told you there was a better way? If you knew that the roller coaster could feel more like a train ride towards your destination, would you get on? Our hearts cannot sustain the ups and downs or even the excitement if it’s followed by devastation. But the reason we feel that way, is because our hope is misplaced.
For hundreds of years, everything that happened to the Israelites was leading to one place. As they sat just outside the Promised Land, they could barely contain their excitement. Their generation had been chosen to finally take possession of the land. There were people already living there, but God had promised it to them. They sent 12 men to walk around and tell them what to expect when they got there. When the spies came back, they brought a cluster of grapes so big that it had to be carried on a pole between two men. The land was plentiful just as the Lord had said!
But their joy quickly faded to despair when the spies told them there was no way to defeat the people already living in the land. There were too many of them, they were too strong, and some of them were actual giants. The cities were fortified with great walls that could not be penetrated. Almost all the spies said if the Israelites tried to fight these people for the land, they’d surely die.
The Israelites were devastated! Their whole lives had been leading up to this moment. In their slavery, in their escape, in the wilderness with little food and water, they always knew there was a better land waiting for them if they could only get there. Now, as they sat on its edge, all of their dreams were gone in a moment.
But, why did it have to be that way? Why did they believe they would face defeat? Had God not freed them from the Egyptian army for this express purpose? Egypt was also a nation that was stronger and mightier than them. Had God not fed them in the desert? Would He have kept them alive these past two years only to let them die at the hand of these other people? Why would God expend all that effort to rescue them from slavery, feed them, instruct them on their future government and worship practices, only to let them all die in the end? Also, if He was able to perform all those miracles, then why would He not be able to bring about the last one that would fulfill His promise.
Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies that trusted the Lord. They tried to persuade the people not to be afraid and to place their faith in the God who had carried them this far. It didn’t matter who was bigger or stronger, but only whose side God was on. Instead of focusing on their own limitations they needed to focus on the unlimited power of God. If their focus would have been on His strength instead of the strength of the other nations, then they would’ve had no reason to be afraid. God is not bound by the ways of the earth because He created the world and all that is in it. Therefore, He has power above all created things and circumstances.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap and He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord and all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance… No king is saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength and a horse is a vain hope for safety. Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.
Psalm 33:6-20
The reason their hopes were dashed is because their hope was misplaced. They were trusting in themselves. So, when they saw the strength of the other people and realized their own inability, their hope no longer made sense. But if they would have placed their trust in God, they would’ve inherited His promise. He knew how big and strong the people were when He told them to take over the land. The strength of the nations was nothing in comparison to the One that created them in the first place. His power is beyond that of any man.
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, & its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. (God) who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in… “To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number. He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power. Not one is missing. Why do you say… “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God”? Have you not known and have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord. Shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, run and not be weary, walk & not faint.
Psalm 40:22-31
Like the Israelites, when we put our hope in ourselves, we will be discouraged and disappointed. If we place our faith in our family or friends, in doctors or counselors, in money or talent, skill or hard work, or any other earthly thing, then our hope has been misplaced. Only God is worthy of hope because only He has the power to fulfill.
To those who are of the faith of Abraham… in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. (Abraham) who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations… being fully convinced that what He had promised, He was also able to perform.
Romans 4:16-21
Do you believe that God is able to perform anything that He wants to? Can you look beyond the limits of this world towards His unlimited power? If you have ever seen Him do something that went beyond the natural order, then He has proven His power to you. So, how many miracles does He have to perform, for you to place your trust in Him. How many times does He have to prove His power and love towards you? Are you willing to hope, contrary to hope today, being fully convinced that God is worthy of the faith you’ve placed in Him?
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage & He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, on the Lord.
Psalm 27:13-14
Excerpt from Episode 88 “Paradise Lost – Hopes Dashed” on Podcast and YouTube
