Don’t Lose Hope – God’s Writing a Story of Redemption In Your Life

The past several years, God has been stripping away the frills of earthly success, independence, and self-confidence in me. Like Elijah, I have felt hidden by the Lord, severely tested by difficult and painful circumstances, and a battle of faith in response to God’s silence and the relentless furnace of affliction. My natural assumption of what God’s goodness and faithfulness should look like has been torn to shreds, as my man-made image of God has crumbled little by little. 

But as I slowly see glimpses of light shining the rubble of broken hopes and dreams, God is shaping something new in me. He is slowly weaning my heart from the desires and glory of this world, and giving me glimpses of rest, contentment, and a true desire for his glory, even if that means a life barren of earthly comforts and success. 

My thick head has deeply struggled to not equate God’s favor with “blessing” our endeavors, especially when in our eyes, “It’s for him.” It has deeply struggled to not feel the sting of abandonment and hurt when my desperate cries for help seem met with silence and more disappointment. And it has been embattled with suffocating doubts, confusion, and the ugliness of resentment. 

But I have been increasingly convicted by my attitude of entitlement and discontentment. Entitlement to health, success, financial relief, and God’s favor in ways that make sense to me.

And yet, the truth is, he doesn’t owe me anything. He’s already given me more than I deserve and increasingly, I believe that God is pouring out his favor on me – and most likely you – as he strips away the lesser things that we measure his goodness by and sows in us a deeper, more settled faith that praises him in the darkness and rejoices in what he will do, even when that hope is yet to be realized. 

Ever since the plan of redemption through Christ was set into motion, we have all been on the continuum of that redemption at work. And redemption in this life will often not look like our problems going away, our desires being made a reality, or our kingdoms being built. It may look like being hidden by the Lord, stripped of that which hinders us from truly experiencing peace, rest, and joy in him. It will look like him working contrary to what we expect, humbling our natural “god complex”. It will look like him stripping us from self-confidence and man-made plans, teaching us to trust his true character, rather than our self-made image of him. 
And it will look like us learning that “redemption” is eternal work – much like the cross. 

Our paths will all look different. God redeeming us to himself will take each of us on different journeys. And it will leave us with many questions he may not explain the answers to. 

But redemption has happened through Jesus, it is happening every day through the very things we often think are to our detriment, and it will happen to the fullest when we enter glory. 

Friend, your (and my) redemption is certain. No matter how bleak things may appear, God is at work and our hope is sure. Until our faith becomes sight, we can say with growing confidence:

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”

Hab 3:17-19

Home is around the corner,

To read more encouragement on hope in your suffering, pick up a copy of Hope When It Hurts (30 short biblical reflections for hope in your suffering), Tears and Tossings (shorts evangelistic resource), or Together Through the Storms (for married couples). If you’re a mom (or know a mom), you can now order Sarah and Linda’s (mother/daughter) book, He Gives More Grace: 30 Hope-filled Reflections for the Ups and Downs of Motherhood Through the Years on Amazon or The Good Book Company. And you can find amazing bonuses HERE!