Lift up your voice

Have you ever felt so hopeless that you have wailed? Sobbing uncontrollably as the tears fall. Groans from the very depths of the soul. At times, we may encounter deep trouble and sorrow. We cry out, longing for justice, healing, help, hope, in the midst of pain and great trial.

The Bible says, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope’ (Romans 15:13). Hope is found in God. Not only that, but He fills us with all joy and peace. In times of hopelessness, God gives us His joy and peace. We don’t need to conjur up these feelings ourselves and put on a brave face. The ‘stiff upper lip’ that Brits are known for cannot fool God. He knows our heart (Acts 15:8; Psalm 44:21).

Do you believe?

God fills us with all joy and peace in believing. What are we believing for? What is the point of hoping in the face of hopelessness? What if our prayers go unanswered? Sometimes that happens, doesn’t it? The object of the Christian faith is not a genie in a bottle, but the Living God. When we trust in Him, He gives us His Spirit which resides inside of us.

Abounding in hope by the power of God

Romans 8:26 says, ‘…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.’ We are not in the battle alone. God helps us. He is more than able to sustain us, care for us and keep us. Sometimes there are no words for the pain we experience. Yet, God intercedes and prays for us.

We are filled with joy and peace in believing by the power of God. We cannot save ourselves from sin. Only Jesus had the power to do that for us. We cannot know lasting joy and peace apart from Him. Circumstances change and the uncertainties of life are around every corner, but Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Crying out to the God who saves

There’s a line in the film Titanic where the character Rose says of her love interest Jack that “he saved me, in every way that a person can be saved”. Jack died saving her life and she lived to be an old lady, dying in her bed, just as Jack said she would. Jack did save her life, but he did not save her from death. He couldn’t. Death is that inevitability we all face. But there is only one way to be saved eternally: Jesus (John 14:6; John 3:16-18; Acts 4:12).

People all over the world die in the place of others in acts of tremendous courage and heroism. But Jesus died for the sin of the world whilst we were His enemies. Romans 5:6-11 says,

‘When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.’