Don’t watch the news! If you do a feeling will come over you. Not a good one either. It is called hopelessness.

IMHO one of the feelings a good number of people experienced in the last 1-2 years has been hopelessness. Lockdowns. Masks. A relentless virus. Lack of personal contact. And more. But one way all this has revealed itself is in illness and even suicide. It has amped up that feeling of hopelessness.

On top of that think of the events of this past summer-the riots, rebelliousness, the angry cries-and think of what is even going on now. The rising inflation. The inflamed rhetoric. The hypocrisy. I could go on and on and it could actually bring you under a blanket that could cover you in despair.

Hope is something we all want AND need. No one feels life is worth living if there seems to be no hope. If we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, it is easy to despair. None of us like to be the recipient of the old saying, “I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. It was the light of an oncoming train.”

During the writing of Psalm 3 (I’m in the process of starting them again), David was in the midst of a coup by his son, Absalom. That had to be a real downer. His own son!  But verse 3 shows us that David knew where to go: “But You, Lord, are a shield around me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.” He goes on to write about how he cried out to God, then went to sleep, and really slept. Why? How? “For the Lord sustained me.” (v.5)

No follower of Christ is hopeless, nor should we ever feel life is hopeless. I like what someone has said,

“Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up.

“Father, help me not to worry or feel hopeless. Help me to see and know You will sustain me.”

All Scripture is from NASB2020.