Living in Despair? There is Great Hope!
Living in Despair? There is Great Hope!
By Lucie Kirouac
Since the beginning of time, Man has been plagued by the most destructive incurable cancer: being born with a sinful nature. There is nothing he can do to rid himself from it. All attempts are futile and can only lead to more suffering. One of the worst symptoms of this cancer is despair (meaning sunk down).
Are you facing despair because of incontrollable circumstances in your life? You are not alone! It’s one of the most crippling conditions mankind will ever have to cope with, and it’s a powerful seducer of the human spirit. It produces a sinking feeling in the heart. We see no hope, no relief, and no prospect of help; most of the time this beaten-down feeling is the result of our own reaction to the undesirable circumstances of life. Most of us can identify with that in one way or another.
Satan, the worst enemy of God and humanity can push someone (by his attacks), into despair. We must remember that he’s been defeated at the cross and if we make Christ our shelter, the devil has to flee. Living with a downcast spirit can undermine our faith in God and make us poor examples of His love and power.
Despair takes its toll on families, relationships, our health and our reasoning. Therefore, it’s never the right choice. It dominates our emotions and produces hopelessness. Some of us are facing chronic illnesses. Mental health problems and handicaps of all kinds-are more vulnerable to a downcast spirit. Despair is a normal and legitimate reaction that must gradually be overcome. No one should live in that state of mind. You surely must ask yourself how to surmount it.
All of us cope in different ways, ways that are most familiar and we also have the tendency to place our entire hope in those we love. Eventually though, we realize that others can only do so much to help-for we are bound by our human limitations and we can get crushed if we try eliminating despair in our own strength, instead of God’s.
We live in a mortal sinful decaying body and mind on a planet that is dying, and is a very dangerous place in which to live. Most conditions in this universe are favorable to bringing about despair.
I’m inviting you to consider the Creator of the universe and of human kind: Jesus Christ. This sin cancer, which is inherent to our feeble nature, is what separates us from God.
Jesus was subjected to the most horrible way of dying. He was crucified, tortured and humiliated by men. He took upon Himself our judgment. He deprived himself of His Father’s presence for my sake and yours. What pure grace He manifested on our behalf to save us from ourselves, our sins and the enemy; to sustain us every minute of our lives.
If I didn’t know Christ as my Savior, I know for a fact that I would be in more than just despair. I would be terrified and in constant panic. If you don’t know Christ, you need to open your eyes and heart to what’s really going on in this world (instead of going into denial). Denial is not an option. Ignorance can make you fall quickly!
Most people reject Christ and His offer of love. Jesus is waiting for you with compassion and open arms to forgive your sins and make His Spirit reside in your heart, and become your Savior. By becoming a child of His, you are then a new creature walking in the newness of life! That’s what being born-again means. He transforms each of us unique individuals with profound care and tenderness.
Despair makes us feel that God is absent, that He doesn’t truly care for us. But He remains in control of His entire creation and of each of our lives. We might not see Him at work but He never leaves us…and His plans for us always come to completion.
Faith is trusting like a child would a parent, simply and without constantly questioning. Let go of yourself to Jesus; rest in all of His promises. Just allow Him to show you what He desires for you…to fulfill your life.
He is the best guide and friend you will ever know. He is more than able to turn your despair into a fading memory and be your well of joy-in spite of all the suffering you may encounter.
Life is life and Jesus wants to hold your hand, to take you in His arms when you can no longer walk on your own. He wants to whisper to you all His love, affection and tenderness so that you will feel protected and secure.
He’s the Master of the impossible! We have finite minds and can’t fathom what God is capable of. If He created, why can’t He take care of us as His children?
Yes, it is easy for me to write those words to you, but as I myself keep struggling, I admonish myself to do what I’m supposed to do: Let go and let God. I certainly don’t have all I need to fend for myself so I must depend on Him all the time. If we resist, He can place us in situations to remind us that He wants our best for us.
Man has turned God’s entire magnificent creation into a total ruin. Our sin catches up to us and we must be honest with ourselves: We can be our worst enemy! We are also victimized by evil and ignorant people. Wounds can run deep and need healing, for sure.
The Lord’s desire is to restore each of us to become like Him-but we must let Him do His work in our inner-being. We must admit that we prefer to remain in control of everything. We shouldn’t be surprised to have so many problems.
I don’t write about what I don’t experience. How could I relate if I didn’t face some of the same struggles as others? I never dreamed that one day the Lord would invite me to share my life with you, like this. It wasn’t in my plans, for sure. I’ve been encouraged by brothers and sisters in Christ to relate to you. It has positively changed my life. I long to reach out to you so that you can meet Jesus Christ too, to be well, and in turn tell others how great it is to know Him and live in His freedom and grace.
I first thought that I wouldn’t be of a good example to others if I dared share some of my weaknesses. Because I continue to suffer, I do experience despair at times. But what I want you to know is that the moment Jesus presented Himself to me, I just fell in love with Him and in spite of seemingly impossible situations, He enabled me to stay close to Him.
He is my only refuge and shelter. I can’t live in guilt because I’m afflicted nor should I be told that I lack faith. To the contrary, if I didn’t trust Christ, I would certainly be totally hopeless.
When I read in the Bible that someday soon, Jesus will come back on the clouds to take his bride (all His children) home with Him where we belong, that promise has sustained me greatly in my worst threatening illnesses and accidents.
I don’t want Satan to control me so I remain close to my Lord as much as possible. If I were to die before the Rapture, all the better I would finally be home! (I just wouldn’t want to know how I would die…though.)
I feel like Paul in the Scriptures. He longed to go home with Christ but he also knew that Jesus had more work for him to do on God’s earth. We must learn to set aside some of our struggles to love and care for others.
Sharing the gospel of our great Savior is just part of our mission. I’ve been in need of unconditional love all my life. The Lord sends onto our path the right persons, so we can feel the depth of His love (when His children strive to show it His way).
Despair must leave and be replaced by-hope. That word means: certainty. If you know people living in despair, let them know that there is a much better way to live. Show them Jesus’ love and it will transform their lives. Without hope, a human being dies for he has no reason to live.
If I were Jesus, I would delight in my children if they could only understand that their greatest purpose is above all, to love each other in spite of their differences. Love casts out fear and it’s the greatest virtue. It is eternal and will follow us into eternity!
I tend to love and care for people around me. I like to write to you with my heart because I don’t know how else to share. I make myself available to listen and do what I can to help, comfort and empathize. I need discernment and wisdom because it’s not always easy to understand and know how to lift burdens off others shoulders. I tell myself that the golden rule applies in our everyday lives: To do for others what we would like others to do for us!
Write to me if you need to…
Lucie who cares!