October 25, 2021
When Hope Is Gone
Mary Southerland
Today’s Truth
I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God (Psalm 40:1-3 NIV).
Friend to Friend
In the 1950s, Curt Richter, a Harvard graduate, and Johns Hopkins scientist, did a series of experiments that tested how long rats could swim in high-sided buckets of circulating water before drowning. Dr. Richter found that, under normal conditions, a rat could swim for an average of 15 minutes before giving up and sinking. However, if he rescued the rats just before drowning, dried them off, and let them rest briefly before putting them back into the same buckets of circulating water, the rats could swim an average of 60 hours.
Conclusion: If a rat were saved – even temporarily, it would survive 240 times longer than if it were not saved at all.
Interesting!
How could these rats swim so much longer during the second session, especially after swimming as long as possible to stay alive during the first session? Dr. Richter concluded that the rats were able to swim longer because they were given hope.
Hope can stand beside grief and give us the strength to go on.
Hope can deflect the attacks of the enemy, even when we are wounded and weary of the battle.
Have you ever been so tired, utterly discouraged and in so much pain that you could hardly breathe? That is exactly where we find King David, the author of Psalm 40.
David had it all – success, money, power, and the favor of God. Men like that are not supposed to commit adultery – right? But David did.
When David realized that he had sinned against God, he pleaded with God to forgive him. “Lord, I have sinned” David cried. God’s mercy and love went to work, restoring David to the point that God said, “This is a man after my own heart.”
Wow!
David puts into words the cry of his heart in Psalm 40:1-3:
“I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.”
Did you notice the powerful truth that God turned to David? I don’t think David had the strength to turn to God. He had been swimming in his sin far too long. But like a father whose heart and ears are tuned to the cries of His children - even when they have made mistakes – even when they are broken and their lives are a mess, when the children of God cry out for God, He hears and comes running.
God meets us where we are. He lifts us out of our slimy pit and gives us a firm place to stand – in His mercy and grace. The forgiveness we experience through His love gives us hope and a new song, a hymn of praise for all He has done.
He is our God, Savior, and Friend when we are walking in obedience … as well as when we are wallowing in disobedience. His love is unconditional. His mercy is never ending. And His forgiveness is eternal.
If God heard the cry of David, He will hear yours. He knows everything you have done and loves you still. He can see every corner of your pain-filled heart and sees every tear you've cried.
David wrote, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book” (Psalm 56:8 NLT).
One of my favorite worship songs says it well:
I have a hope that will never fade away.
It’s alive in me, living day-to-day.
You can count on God to come through. He is your hope.
Let’s Pray
Father, I come to You – hopeless. I have sinned against You. But right now, I lay down any sin that I have committed and come to You with open hands. I receive Your forgiveness and ask that You purify my heart. I will once again praise You and please You with my steps of obedience.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
On a scale of 1 to 10, what is the level of hope in your life today?
Are you facing or have you recently faced a circumstance that has made you lose hope? What one step do you need to take to “cry out to God?”
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Connect with Mary on Facebook or through email at mary@marysoutherland.com.
© 2021 by Mary Southerland. All rights reserved.
Originally published Monday, 25 October 2021.
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