When Things Feel Hopeless

I’m currently reading The Gospel According to Satan: Eight Lies About God That Sound Like the Truth by Jared C. Wilson (Nelson books). For a formal review I’ve written, click this link.

The book is centered around eight statements which each of us at some time have heard voiced by people with a loose connection to Christianity. Perhaps you’ve even caught yourself echoing one of these yourself, hopefully at an earlier stage of your Christian pilgrimage vis-a-vis where you are today.

• “God just wants you to be happy”
• “You only live once”
• “You need to live your truth”
• “Your feelings are reality”
• “Your life is what you make it”
• “Let go and let God”
• “The cross is not about wrath”
• “God helps those who help themselves.”

This is an excerpt from chapter five which looks extensively at the Book of Job and the subject of hope, and how people are sometimes ruled by the apparent reality of what is actually subjective feelings. The link in the title below takes you to a page at the publisher’s website.

Your Feelings are Reality

In my days as a pastor, I would often find myself sitting across from people overcome with hurt. The most common question they all wanted answered was “Why?

“Why had God allowed this? Why is God doing this to me?”

As the designated religious professional, it was expected I might have an answer to that question. As it pertains to people’s specific trials and tribulations, I did not. But I would ask a question of my own, and it usually went something like this: “If you weren’t going through this would you be as close to God as you are right now?”

In all my years of asking that question, I never heard anyone say, “Yes.”…

…Christians don’t hope as the world hopes. When the world hopes, they are engaging in wishful thinking. “I hope this or that happens,” they think. They think that when a man dies, as Job says, he just fades away; he breathes his last. “You only live once.” That’s it. That’s all they can see.

But Christian hope is not like that. It defies what we can see and it is ripe with the promise of what cannot be seen.

• “We do not grieve as those who have no hope.“–1Thessalonians 4:13
• “And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.“–2Corinthians 1:7
• “There is hope reserved for you in heaven.“–Colossians 1:5
• “Christ in you, the hope of glory.“–Colossians 1:27
• “Christ Jesus is our hope.“–1 Timothy 1:1 (emphasis added)
• “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…“–Hebrews 6:19
• “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.“–Hebrews 11:1 (emphasis added)

See, the world’s hope is hollow. The believer’s hope is firm. Because the believer’s hope is Jesus! And just because you can’t see him doesn’t mean he’s not real. Just because you don’t see him now, doesn’t mean you won’t see him then.

Satan wants you to believe that you are all alone, that when you are stripped down to your essence and left with only pain, that’s all you have. He does not want you to see the reality that Jesus will never leave you or abandon you (Heb. 13:5), that he will be with us all the way to the end (Matt. 28:20)…

…Everything may look bleak, our reality may be that we feel that all is lost, but if we have Christ, we defy what is visible. And we cling to hope, which demands what is invisible.

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Taken from The Gospel According to Satan: Eight Lies about God that Sound Like Truth by: Jared C. Wilson Copyright © 2020 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. http://www.thomasnelson.com.

To the One Who Holds the Stars

Occasionally we run a devotional here, and then include a related song at the end. Today, we’re running the song first, and then the story behind it. This appeared in a longer form at New Release Tuesday. Click the link below to read in its entirety including a full transcript of the lyrics.

#744 – “Stars” by Skillet

interview with John Cooper

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

… The message of the song is that God is in control of all the huge stuff and He is in control of the small stuff in your life. He is listening when you are having a bad day. Sometimes we think that the world is going to keep going, the sun is going to rise and set every day but God doesn’t care about the small things in your life. The Bible doesn’t teach that. The Bible teaches the opposite.

God does care about us and even the sparrows have food to eat. That’s the idea of the song. The thing I was most proud of in writing the song is my wife, Korey, said we should write in the verses to not just write about things God has created like the oceans and the stars in the sky, but also provide a little more detail, as that’s the point. God didn’t just create the big things, but also the small details like how God gave the oceans their borders. God told the oceans where to start and where to stop.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV): “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 124:8 (VOICE): “Our help has come in the name of the Eternal, the Maker of heaven and earth!”

Psalm 139:13-14 (NKJV): “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”

Psalm 139:17-18 (NKJV): “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.”

1 John 4:8 (NKJV): “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

1 John 4:16 (NKJV): “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”

1 John 4:18-19 (NKJV): “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.”

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV): “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What is the takeaway message?

We included some details of God’s creation in the verses and some references from the Bible such as my favorite passage of Scripture in the second verse: “Can’t separate me, can’t keep me from Your sight,” which is based on Romans 8:38-39. No matter where you run or try to hide, there is nowhere you can hide from God’s presence. Those are some cool aspects of the song and hopefully people can realize that if God cares about the details of His creation, He cares about the details of our lives.

Skillet has a lot of different kinds of fans. Some of our songs have double meanings, and a lot of this album and part of why we call the album “Unleashed” is about not being afraid. There are a lot of songs about that, like “Feel Invincible,” and “Lions.”

I was going through some hard times in my life the past few years, and part of the minutia of that is we struggle with fears and insecurities or something terrible, like broken and abusive homes. The spectrum is wide of what people are fearing, and in all of those situations, God can make you brave and not afraid. You don’t have to fear because God is with you. The theological aspect of not being afraid is that I have become more and more comfortable that God called me and I chose Him because He chose me without getting into a deep theological discussion. He first loved us.

If He first loved me, and called me, and He knows my name, then I don’t have to fear all these things or falling away from Him or losing His Holy Spirit. He has me so securely. That has really impacted me and I’ve gotten a deeper and deeper understanding of how amazing God’s grace really is in my life.

God, our Creator, created us in His image and likeness. He adores us immensely, and sent Jesus to die for us to show us the definition of love. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8 (NIV). God created the stars in the sky and knows the numbers of hairs on our heads. He’s right here. If you’ve put all of your hope and trust in Jesus, there is nothing that can separate you from His love. God sees us as He sees His Son. He knows our names and He loves us so much that He came to die for us.

If you don’t know how to word your prayers of thankfulness for what Jesus has done for you, just sing along with this incredible song of faith. It’s okay to not be okay and bring your thoughts to the Lord no matter what you are thinking. Just like you don’t have to wash your hands before you take a shower, just get into a relationship with the Lord and then profess that relationship to Him.

There are several truths we can cling to as believers in this song: “If You can calm the raging sea, You can calm the storm in me,” and recognizing that we are never too far from His love or His reach. God is omnipresent and always with us. The song also sings about not being afraid of the storm, “Your love has called my name. What do I have to fear?” The Lord tells us all throughout His Word to not be afraid or worry. He knows we suffer from that attack from the enemy who wants to rob us of our joy in God. By reading the Bible every day, God wants us to have a daily reminder not to be afraid.

This song is a great celebratory anthem about what it means to have hope in Christ. Sometimes it is hard to believe that God loves us so much that He knows us intimately and He wants to fill our hearts with love. We don’t have to be pretend, or hide, or strive or stand on our tiptoes to meet some mark. He knows our brokenness inside and out, and because of what Jesus did on the Cross, He sees us as righteous. God sees us as He sees His Son. It’s not our righteousness, or appearance or talent or gifting, it is just Jesus. That’s cause to celebrate and sing out to Him: “You’re never too far away, You never show up too late, So here I am lifting up my heart, To the One who holds the stars, You’re the One who holds the stars.” Amen to that!

A Sure Foundation

Today we’re paying a return visit to the daily devotional section of the online Bible resource Blue Letter Bible. If you click the title below, you can navigate to posts indexed by date or by a particular verse of scripture.

Jesus Christ, Our Only Foundation

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:10-11)

by Bob Hoekstra

Another wonderful blessing in Christ is the foundation that He provides for all who live by His grace. As with buildings, lives also need solid foundations. Our foundation is a person, Jesus. “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” By the grace of God enabling him, Paul ministered the gospel of Jesus Christ. “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation.” In doing this, he was laying the only reliable spiritual ground for living as God intended. So many people attempt to lay other foundations for their lives. Some turn to earthly riches. Others hope in human wisdom. Others put their confidence in personal power and influence. Such vain pursuits are like attempting to construct a building upon shifting, sinking sand.

Our lives need a rock foundation. It has always been the Father’s purpose to provide such for His people. David experienced this through his pilgrimage, as he trusted in the Lord. “From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2). In the most extreme situations on earth, when circumstances were overwhelming him, David cried out to His God. He looked to the Lord to be to him a rock upon which he could stand above the rolling waves of impossibility. “He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved“ (Psalm 62:6). David stood on the Lord alone as his solid spiritual ground. Standing by faith he would not be destroyed.

Of course, the ultimate expression of God being a rock to His people would be in the coming of the Son of God to earth as a man. This great plan the Lord promised through Isaiah. “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily” (Isaiah 28:16). Jesus is that proven, priceless, secure foundation. Now, all who stand on Him by faith will not be driven about frantically, searching for solid ground on which to plant their feet.

O Lord my rock, You are the only foundation that I will ever need for my life. I have tried to stand on so many things that proved to be sinking sand. Lord, I want to place all of my hope for spiritual stability in You. When circumstances threaten to inundate me, be to me my rock of refuge in the storm, Amen.

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