Q: What can you do when you’ve lost all hope?  —Joseph

A: Scripture gives numerous examples of people who’ve struggled with feelings of hopelessness  (1 Kings 19:4; Psalm 22:11; Isaiah 53:10; Lamentations 1:12; Jonah 2:1-5; Matthew 27:46; 2 Corinthians 1:8; Hebrews 11:35-40).

When the apostle Paul struggled with profoundly disappointing circumstances and anguished over personal struggles with sin to the point of “despairing even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9), he found that the purpose of these times of intense personal despair was to develop a deepening sense of dependency upon Jesus: “This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. . . . On him we have set our hope” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10; see 2 Corinthians 4:7-12).

God doesn’t expose us to trials that can bring feelings of hopelessness and leave us alone. In Christ, God struggles with us. He does so because He knows that experiencing the pain and struggles of a fallen world is the only way we can learn to trust Him and share His wisdom and love.  —Dan VanderLugt

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