How can you hold on to hope in God when things go wrong?

This has been a tough week and one where I honestly have struggled to stay hopeful. As a Christian, I know that I'm supposed to trust God. Yet when faced with pain and loss, it is very hard not to feel discouraged. The death of loved ones, illnesses, and job loss are a few things that you may be able to relate to in your own life.

We are facing a global crisis. We feel heartbroken for the war in Ukraine, as the world bear witness to innocent deaths.

It is hard to admit this, but for the sake of being transparent and authentic, here it goes…life feels uncertain.

When our hearts are broken, when we lose hope, when we feel fear, we need to remember that our Heavenly Father is unshakable. The world might look like it's collapsing around us. But the world is in God's hands. My world, your world is in God's hands. God has a plan.

I grew up thinking that hope was about believing a situation or circumstance would ultimately work out positively. But this is optimism. Hope is different.

In this time of uncertainty, we can look to a similar time in the Bible when Jesus's followers faced uncertainty: The last supper. Jesus and his disciples were having a meal together in secret to celebrate Passover. This holiday was a celebration of the Jews' deliverance from slavery in Egypt. For hundreds of years, the Hebrew people had prayed to God to save them, and for those hundreds of years, the prayer seemed to fall on deaf ears. But God had a plan; he chose Moses as his prophet and used him to bring the most powerful empire in the world to its knees. Jesus and his disciples gathered to celebrate that God had come through.

They needed to remember that because they were also facing a time of uncertainty and hardship. Jesus's teachings were becoming less popular as the authorities were cracking down on his followers. People were trying to arrest Jesus, so this meal had to be done in secret. Usually, Jesus entered a town publicly in defiance of his opponents. He knew that those who wished him harm would have to go through throngs of his followers if they wanted to get to him. But not this time; instead of entering publicly, Jesus had secretly slipped into the city after sunset. 

Worst of all, Jesus had started talking about his own death, and that one of the disciples would betray him. "While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me." They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely you don't mean me?" "It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man!" (Mark 14 18-21)

This seemed like the darkest hour. Jesus' followers had the powers of the world against them, and now they knew one of their own would betray them. Later that night, Jesus was publicly arrested by a crowd led by his enemies. As he predicted, Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him, and the roman soldiers crucified him.

Everyone thought that this was the end. They thought that Jesus had lost and that God had forsaken him. But in the darkest hour, God accomplished his greatest work. Jesus returned from the grave, and he brought us salvation. From the darkest hour, God delivered us from death. Even when it seemed like all hope was lost, God had a plan.

Even when life is uncertain, the world is still in the hands of God. We have to ask ourselves: Could that still be true today? Could what seems like the end actually be the beginning of something extraordinary God is planning? The disciples thought that the last supper, the day they lost Jesus, was their darkest hour. But it was also when God's most significant plan came to fruition. 

Jesus told us that "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Even followers of Christ will face suffering and hardship. Having faith that God has a plan won't save us from misfortune, uncertainty with our jobs, or questionable health. Having faith doesn't mean we won't lose things. But it does mean that we don't have to despair. No matter how bad the trouble gets, we can still go to sleep at night with the knowledge that Jesus has not forsaken us. 

Our hope comes from looking back to the risen Jesus in order to look forward. It is not about having optimism that everything will work out. It's the hope that God's creation cannot – will not – remain how it is. God has a plan and a purpose for his creation. Our hope comes from knowing that God's plan has succeeded in the past. He fulfilled his promise of redemption through Jesus Christ, and we can trust him to come through again in the future. 

Even in times when it seems like the world is falling apart, we can still have hope. God still has the whole world in his hands.

 And that is the greatest hope of all.