There are times in our life when things are desperate. It has been a long time now but there was a time in my life when I was desperate for help. I was working but it seemed that I never had enough money to make it through a week without stressing over how we are going to survive till payday. For some reason, we had gotten behind in our mortgage payment and were about to lose our house. That’s a scary feeling. We asked for help but it seemed no one could help. 
People all over the world face desperate times. It seems we are having an epidemic today. Many are homeless, jobless with no help in site. Children are caught between battling parents and kids at school who seem to love to make fun of those who are different. Nations are going through desperate times as well when all the terrible things that are going on overwhelms the citizenry to the point of feeling lost without hope.
Desperate Times Breeds Hopelessness
Sometimes if feels like we are in fact in the last days described in the Book of Revelation. You can’t turn on the news anymore without hearing about more crime, murders occurring in a city near us. In America, it seems we are deluged daily with one more problem in our federal government where someone indicted or called before congress. In many countries people are struggling with diseases, poverty, the ravages of war or the constant fighting that seems to go on between nations and peoples.
Viewing Our Situation From A Different Perspective
How can our faith help in these desperate times? Where does faith and hope come into play when we are going through a time in our life when we are desperate for a solution? Is there hope in times like these? Those are all questions I seek to answer for myself and anyone else who seeks a little peace in desperate times.
I ran across a quote by Andy Andrew which stressed the importance of looking from a different perspective in desperate times, He wrote – “In desperate times, much more than anything else, folks need perspective. For perspective brings calm. Calm leads to clear thinking. Clear thinking yields new ideas. And ideas produce the bloom…of an answer. Keep your head and heart clear. Perspective can just as easily be lost as it can be found.” ~ Andy Andrew
Can taking another look at a desperate situation from a different perspective really do anything to help us work through our crisis? I believe it can help and that means we can find help through desperate time just by looking at our situation through a new perspective. Each situation is different but looking at things from a new perspective can bring us hope, and hope can help us through any hard times we face.
Learning From History
Many times in the past our world has found itself in a desperate situation. I have often thought about the situation of our own country during the Civil War. I can only imagine what it was like to live through that period when our nation was split up and fighting against one another. Families were divided, society was killing off each other, it was a terrible time to live through. How did people make it through this time when the war was felt by every state, every town – where no one was safe.
There were many things that finally brought peace but one that comes to mind was something that President Lincoln did towards the end of the war, when it appeared that the North was going to win. He did something that would seem unthinkable, “he signed the highest draft quota of the time. He demanded that 600,000 northern men enlist in the union army” (https://commons.trincoll.edu/1862/2012/12/20/1862-how-people-reacted-to-and-overcame-desperate-times/).
Who in their right mind would add so many to a strained federal budget to ensure a victory that was seemingly already consider won by the north? His perspective was not just to win but speed up the eventual peace and stability that would come after the war was over. That war was fought with passion by both sides and it could have led to destroying the whole nation if someone didn’t find a new way around war.
Finding Hope In The God Who Can
Where do you find hope in desperate times? Does our faith help? I believe it does. Throughout the Bible you will find instances where the people of God have found themselves caught up in desperate times. Where did they find their help or hope in these times? Maybe we can learn from them so when we find ourselves in the midst of a storm we can find hope in our faith and help to make it through.
Imagine journeying into a foreign land where you are the outsider and where any chance of finding a place to call home seems impossible due to the overwhelming opposition of moving forward. Joshua found himself in such a situation. He was just following God, and about to lead the people into the land where God had led them. They faced overwhelming odds.
What did Joshua do? If we were in his position looking at the possibility of doing something that seemed impossible it would seem that a hard time was about to come. From our view, our perspective his was a mission that seemed doom to fail. But Joshua was a leader who was determined to let God lead, to do as God directed. Joshua looked beyond what he could see to what God could do. Following God would bring victory against impossible odds.
Joshua’s hope was in the God who can.
Hope Overcomes Fear of Failure
In Psalm 33:18 it reads – “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine” (ESV). Joshua feared God more than he feared the inhabitants in Canaan. Sure they were more organized, had powerful armies, and lived in well-protected cities, but God could bring Israel through anything because of his promises and his steadfast love. Joshua knew God loved them and desired the best in their situation; his care and concern for those who followed him kept them focused on just following God even when the situation from their perspective looked impossible to overcome.
Hope in God will not let us down because God is willing to help those who trust him through any situation. “For I the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”” (Isaiah 41:13 ESV).
Desperate times may come but what we do when desperate times come is up to us, will we be like Joshua or any of the other great people in the Bible and trust God? When everything seems to be falling down around us, when nothing seems to make sense; those are times we need to lean on our hope in God.
Our Faith Counts Most In Desperate Times
In desperate times it is our faith that counts the most. It is our faith that gives us hope that our situation is not hopeless, not for Almighty God who cares for us. That same God who Joshua served, the God who was with Israel through all the ups and downs in their journey, who showed his love even when they failed him. That same God who stepped into the world, Jesus, who took on human form, lived a perfect life, fulfilled all the law, and then went to the cross to die for our sins.
That same Jesus who was resurrected and returned to heaven lives today and sits at the right hand of God interceding for those who believe in him. He is able to save us no matter what our situation becomes. That same Jesus that is proclaimed in Hebrews 7:25 “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (ESV).
Faith in that same Jesus that we can call on in desperate times, the God whom you can depend on, and whom you can trust in – https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/call-on-god-for-help-in-desperate-times/ “When everything seems to be falling in around us, when the walls seem to be closing in on us, when nothing in our world or in this world seems to hold any hope, when everything looks completely hopeless, just remember that God is not ever caught by surprise. He will save those who are His from calamity” (Read more: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/call-on-god-for-help-in-desperate-times/#ixzz5oTJkc8Oa).
Next Time You Face Desperate Times Put Your Hope In God
I want to thank you for stopping by Walkinghope.com I hope that something written here will help you on your journey in life. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments on this or any article posted here and please share it as you see fit on your social media sites.
Thanks for stopping by and God bless you on your journey.
Raymond – Author – Walkinghope.com
