Finding Hope Again

Just a few years ago horrible sadness lead me down farther and farther into the dark tunnel of overwhelming grief. My thoughts were only of all the bad around me, all the bad that had happened to me and all the bad that would undoubtedly occur soon enough.

What brought me back from the rim of that deep abyss? Gratitude for the small things of each day and the prayers of many faithful friends!

Recalling the Blessings of God in the past brought Asaph back from the grief of the present and forward to the reality of hope for the future. In Psalm 77 we can see the progression from woe to hope as the author reconsidered how great was his God.

Grief is based on mixed up feelings = abstract and untrue. Basically it's based on ME and my interpretations of circumstances.

Hope is based on the facts of who God is = concrete and truthful. Hope is based on a reliable GOD.

Somehow in the midst of our problems we stop looking to God and what is good and get rolled around in the muck of all that is bad.

Asaph in Psalm 77 goes from misery and grief when he stops looking at himself and what's all around and looks to God. In verse 11, he writes, "I will remember the works of the LORD. In verse, 13, "Who is so great a God as our God?"

I am so glad to be HAPPY in the Lord and have HOPE in my Savior!

Have you lost your JOY and HOPE? Read Psalm 77 and then sit down with paper and pen and make a list of all the concrete blessings in your life. Then pause and thank God for each one!

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