When all hope seems lost: Finding hope in the waiting
- Sonya Harris
- Apr 20
- 5 min read
As I’m writing this blog on this Easter Sunday, I’m thinking about the busy weekend we had with our family as we gathered for ham and all the fixings, an Easter egg hunt for the grandchildren and serving in our Easter service at church. My mind goes back to many years ago, when I was a little girl wearing a pastel dress with lace, white patent-leather shoes and an Easter basket complete with that green, plastic grass that filled everyone’s Easter basket. Our little church would always have a message about Jesus’ sacrifice for us through His death on the cross, and the hope we have because He arose from the tomb three days later. Then we would have an Easter egg hunt for all of the children after Sunday service. Something I looked forward to every year. Those chocolate bunnies were a big deal. You had to be very careful cutting off a chunk of those made of solid chocolate. You could lose a digit or two if not very careful. Mine were often the hollow bunnies that were easily broken apart, and always best eaten when stored in the refrigerator. Such happy memories.
As I was saying, it’s Easter Sunday and I’m currently sitting on my back porch. The temperature here is 84°, there’s a nice breeze, the birds are singing and all is well. However, I’ve lived many, many days, months and years where things were not as they are today. I’ve experienced pain, frustration, fear, and defeat that I thought would never end because of situations I was placed in by others, or decisions I made. In all of those places, I felt trapped and at a loss as to how to climb out of the pit I was in.
As I listened to the Easter message this weekend, God laid these words on my heart to share with you. Are you currently in a dark place that you can see no way out of? Are you struggling to find hope, peace and direction in life? Do you constantly find yourself limping through life with no real purpose, leaving yourself wondering “why am I here”, “how can God use me”, “does He even care”? Hang in here with me while I express some thoughts:
Good Friday: (Read John 18-19) The day we commemorate when Jesus was beaten and crucified for our sins. It was a very dark day for those who knew who He was and why He came. They watched Him live and they watched Him die and with His death, watched hope slip away. I can’t imagine how defeated they must have felt. They had seen His miracles; they had listened to His words when He walked this Earth. Now He was dead and all hope seemed lost.
Are you in a place of hopelessness today? Nothing is working out. You’re begging God for answers, but there’s only silence and you don’t know how much more you can take. Don’t give up……hold on.
Saturday: Jesus’ followers are mourning as He is in the tomb. They remembered that Jesus said that He would arise in three days, but they had just watched Him die. How could this be? Saturday was a day of waiting. That space between the moment hope first seems lost until you make it through to the other side. It’s through this time of waiting that will determine who you are at the end of the waiting. Don’t lose hope. Don’t lose faith. Don’t give up on finding hope in the waiting.
Sunday – Resurrection Day: (Read John 20) Jesus Christ defeated death and arose from the grave! Hope was no longer lost for those who believe in Him. And hope is not gone for you! God has not abandoned you. He’s waiting for you to turn to Him. He is the source of ALL hope and perfect peace in any situation. I have lived a life away from Him and I can absolutely say that my worst day with Jesus is a million times better than my life without Him. This doesn’t mean we will never have trouble, but it does mean that we will have Him to carry us through it. Honestly, it has been through the valleys of life where I learned the most about who He is and who I am through Him.
So, are you in a Good Friday situation or somewhere in the middle waiting on your hope to arrive? Take heart and be strong! There’s purpose in the struggle and in the waiting. Pray for wisdom and listen for His voice to lead you. Commit my favorite scripture to memory and recite it often, “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths”.
Proverbs 3:5-6.
For more scripture on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, here are a few passages:
1 Peter 2:24 - He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Mark 9:31 - For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”
Mark 10:34 - And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
Isaiah 53:5 - But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Romans 5:6-10 - For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Mark 8:31 - And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Matthew 12:40 - For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Do you want to know more about following Jesus Christ? Read more on my page The Way of Life.
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