Hopelessness

The apostle Paul needed to calm the concerns of the Thessalonian brethren. He did not want them to be grieved as "Those who have no hope." (1 Thess. 4:13) Certain life circumstances have a way of showing us just what we have inside, and what we yet need to add. Have you considered the power of hope? Let's take the inverse position. Have you experienced the feeling of hopelessness? That's an ugly place to be, isn't it? But what is it really? It's that feeling that nothing can be done to change the negative situation in which we find ourselves. This can show its ugly head in our finances, employment, marriage, health and the moral choices we make. FYI: Satan operates freely in disappointment, discouragement and despair.

When we conduct our life's business outside of Jesus Christ we have a rough way to go. We do so from that very standpoint of having "no hope". Specifically, the most and the best that we can get is in this life only. Our greatest wealth, health and happiness exist in what can be had in the here-and-now rather than in the sweet by-and-by. We must confront each of life's situations by our own strength and wisdom. Since all plans pertain to the short-term (note that James calls life "a vapor"), most of those plans become a series of temporary, emergency fixes all cobbled together. It's not hard to see why so many feel hopeless -- especially when finances, etc (and all contrived standards of "success") take a hit or entirely go bad.

Why so much hopelessness? The term Devil means deceiver. He is imminently good at deceiving. He is a hater of God and all things good. From the very first man and woman, He has actively worked against the welfare of mankind. He does an effective job of convincing the untrained and unstable that evil is good and good is evil. Live the life of evil for even a short while and the disputes, dissentions and pain associated with it becomes clear-- or should be clear if it weren't such a great deception worked on us. The news and our jail are full of those who bought into the deception that happiness could only be obtained by the "good" of doing evil.

The Good News is that Jesus Christ came that we might have life and might have it abundantly! Paul asked," Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" His answer: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" In Him, we have the power to be freed from blindly making decisions that play right into the Devil's hand. His word is a lamp unto our feet and light for the path before us. We don't have to stumble around in the darkness of deception. We can see the potholes in the road of life and where the ditches and steep cliffs might be. Seeing gives the opportunity to avoid the pain. It also allows us to get to the better places in life -- where goodness, gentleness and happiness exist. Folks, we don't have to be in pain or be grieved as those who have no hope. Hope for the better things in this life and the one to come are all found in Jesus Christ. Things can change when we change allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Rob Dispennett is the preacher for the Knightsville church of Christ. He can be contacted through their website at kinghtsvillechurch.org or show-up next Sunday and heckle him from the back.