I remember back when I was in nursing school, they taught us how important it is for patients to have a positive attitude when going through a medical crisis. It wasn’t until I was out of school years later, going through my own medical issues, that I saw this really was true. I quickly learned it can be more than medical and illnesses; it can be relationships on the rocks, problems with kids, addictions, loss of a job or money problems. It’s not about IF we will face some trial or tribulations, but WHEN – it’s inevitable.
I say all that to get to this. Our attitude, how we handle things, affects every facet of our lives and honestly those around us. Do we have a positive attitude or a negative attitude? It’s a proven fact that when you’re sick, but have a positive attitude and hope, your brain is likely to produce chemicals that boost your immune system and your body’s healing power. Through all my medical issues, I learned really quickly I couldn’t do it alone. My problems were bigger than me but my God is bigger than my problems!
One of my favorite verses that I cling to still today is Hebrew 6:19. It tells us we have a certain Hope like an anchor holding our souls to God Himself. We all know an anchor is usually made of heavy metal attached to a vessel by a rope or chain and cast overboard into a body of water to hold the vessel in a particular place. This prevents the vessel from drifting due to high wind or current. I don’t know about you, but on many occasions I have felt like life has thrown me overboard into raging waters. But just as an anchor secures a ship, Jesus secures me because He has me anchored to Him. I just love that visual!
Jesus wants to be our anchor in all our storms – if we will just let Him. He longs to be connected to us – ALL THE TIME – not just during raging waters. An anchor has to be secured to its vessel for it to do its job in stabilizing that vessel. We have to be tethered to Jesus to have hope in this world. Jesus said in John that He has overcome the world and through this we have gained Hope in ALL of life’s trials and tribulations. Not just this one or that one but ALL of them. When you’re sinking beneath the waves of all your problems, most of the time our common sense goes right out the window. We need something so much greater to hold on to.
Psalm 121 says, “I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” If the God of Creation can create the earth and the heavens, then why wouldn’t He be able to help me with my pathetic little problems? Why wouldn’t I lay them at His feet? This concept of hope is an important one as it’s mentioned 130 times in the Bible. It’s defined as the confident expectation of what God promised and its strength in His faithfulness. Think about that – confident expectation. In this world there aren’t too many things we can have confident expectation in. Hope usually lies hidden in us until we need it for security and strength in those moments when we think we just can’t go on.
Faith, gratitude and love go hand in hand with hope. We can’t have hope without faith or faith without love and gratitude. We will all face suffering – disappointments, heartaches, loss, trials and tribulations – but how we handle them says a lot about where we are in our walk with Christ. Do we fall apart or do we fall into the loving and waiting arms of Jesus? Do we try to do it all ourselves or do we surrender and let our Anchor confidently stabilize us in the raging seas? Do we constantly ask, “Why me Lord,” or do we show gratitude because that problem might be breaking us down enough for Him to draw us to closer? I know when my hope is in Him and only Him, I am much more confident and secure than when I’m trying to handle it myself. Why would I even think I would be equipped to handle it on my own? The thing is, we never have to do it alone – ever!
He wants us to want Him for every moment of our lives – the good, the bad and every moment in between. I remember when I was going through one of my many medical issues dealing with chronic pain, someone told me, “Donna, you praise Him through the pain”. I don’t know if you’ve ever done that before but it wasn’t easy for me at first. I remember getting in my Bible after that and reading everything I could about hope, suffering, pain and healing. I did that until I could thank Him and praise Him through the pain. And really mean it! Romans 5:3-5 says, “And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance; and endurance, proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance [of eternal salvation]. Such hope [in Gods promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
So you see, the suffering you’ve been going through is producing some pretty incredible things in you. I can’t promise you all illness will be healed, all relationships restored or that you’ll come into millions. However, I am promising you that He counts every tear you cry. He will be your strength when you feel alone, when you feel you can’t go on or when you feel it just can’t get any better. He will always be merciful, always loving, always faithful and always trustworthy when you can’t depend on anything or anyone else – and certainly not yourself. The way I see it, we have a few options when dealing with our most difficult trials or even our basic everyday problems. We can let it decide who we are. We can let it tear us apart and destroy us. Or….we can take hold of Jesus’s hand. We can put our hope and trust in Him and by doing that there will most certainly be better days ahead.
I read a quote by an unknown author recently that I really liked – kinda sums all this up. “The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of the pain, thanking God during the trials and trusting Him when we’re tempted to lose hope. At my lowest, God is my hope. At my darkest, God is my light. At my weakest, God is my strength. At my saddest, God is my comforter.” Don’t lose hope. Don’t quit. Have gratitude in the process of the pain. There is always someone hoping and praying for the very things you may take for granted. There is always someone worse off than you. Remember, have confidence in your Anchor to pull you out of those raging waters. To realize the worth of the Anchor, we have to feel the storm! There is always hope! God bless!
By Donna Keathley
