Hope After Hurt Week 4

Can I model hope to my family? 

The will of God is never exactly what you expect it to be. It may seem much worse, but in the end it’s going to be a lot better and a lot bigger.

— Elisabeth Elliot

Lamentations 3

18 All hope is gone; my strength has turned to water, for the Lord has left me.

19 Oh, remember the bitterness and suffering you have dealt to me! 

20 For I can never forget these awful years; always my soul will live in utter shame.

What have been the worst years of your life? 

Lamentations 3:20 — It’s always on my mind, it’s why I’m so depressed. 

Lamentations 3:20 — I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

Lamentations 3:20 — I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed. I remember it all—oh, how well I remember— the feeling of hitting the bottom.

Lamentations 3:20 — My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.

Lamentations 3:20 — My mind keeps reflecting on it, and I become depressed.

Sometimes, questions are more hurtful than insults. 

— Author Mitch Albom 

Life is not always what we had in mind. 

Inadequate 

Ashamed

Don't let the hurt of today blind you to the hope of tomorrow. 

— Lysa TerKeurst

Lamentations 3 

18 All hope is gone; my strength has turned to water, for the Lord has left me.

19 Oh, remember the bitterness and suffering you have dealt to me! 

20 For I can never forget these awful years; always my soul will live in utter shame.

21 Yet there is one ray of hope: 

22 his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. 

23 Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. 

24 My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him. 

25 The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him. 

26 It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Psalm 103:1-2 — Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. 

If we can overthink the worst, why can't we overthink the best? 

Ecclesiastes 9:4 — Anyone who is alive in the world has some hope for good things in the future. It is better to be a dog that is alive than to be a lion that is dead.

I have never known more than fifteen minutes of anxiety or fear. Whenever I feel fearful emotions overtaking me, I just close my eyes and thank God that He is still on the throne reigning over everything and I take comfort in His control over the affairs of my life.

— John Wesley 

Can I model hope to my family? 

Don’t wish for it, work for it. 

Matthew 6 

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who have trespassed against us. 

John 19:30 — Jesus tasted the vinegar. Then he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head and died.

It is finished.