Is That Possible for Me? By Anabel Gillham My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. Psalm 62:5 (NAS) Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. I’m confident nearly everyone has heard this statement that Dante penned in his epic allegorical poem The Divine Comedy, written sometime in the thirteenth century. These words were supposedly engraved over the gate to hell and we find that indictment to be true as we study the Bible. There is no knob on the inside once the gate to hell is closed! What a horrible, tragic sentence for those who refuse God’s love – His Gift of salvation. But I want us to look at the phrase, Abandon all hope. These words are frightening – demoralizing – irrevocable. Final! Abandon – what does it mean? To give up completely, release your grip and realize there will be no second chance. It’s over. Surrender totally. Desert. Leave behind. Quit trying. Erase the plans you have made. The end of your efforts. All of these words would be a part of the meaning of abandon. Abandon what? Hope. When hope is gone, what is left? Nothing. Nothing at all. You quit. You stop dreaming. Your shoulders slump and you bow your head in utter defeat. You may groan and plead, “No, no.” Or you may weep. Or you may say quietly, “It’s all over. There is nothing more I can do.” Some of us have faced these devastating words in our lives, not with regard to Heaven or hell, but with reference to a relationship, a loved one, a doctor’s final diagnosis, a telegram, or sometimes just through observation. We had hoped – now the hope is gone. It is no more. You find yourself muttering, “I did all I could. I tried everything. This is the end of my dreams – all hope is gone.” I’m experiencing such a place in my life today. There’s nothing left for me to do. Now I must accept this hard fact of “abandoning all hope.” And there is such finality in those words “abandon all hope.” What do you do when you finally comprehend that those words are meant for you? Where do you turn? How do you cope? This difficult role that you have been playing has come to an end. Your part in the scene is over. Your lines have all been said. Oh, you don’t leave the stage, you realize that the Main Character still has script in His hand and as He steps to the footlights, you listen carefully to what He has to say. “My dear Child, the ‘hope’ that you are abandoning is the hope that everything will come out according to your desires, the way you want the story to end, having your dreams fulfilled, but for a child of God there is always hope!” In the midst of our disillusionment He tells us, “Take heart, you will overcome.” So there is hope! But how? Because He who lives within has said to us, “take courage, be confident, undaunted” – (but does He understand what has happened? Yes. His soul was “deeply grieved” and He was “distressed.” and He had to abandon His hope when His Father denied His Son’s plea to “let this cup pass from Me.”[1]) Then He goes on to explain how and why we can be confident and undaunted. (I love this word – fearless, undismayed, head high, shoulders back, determined, courageous, ready to face whatever lies ahead) because He says to us, “I have overcome the world. I have deprived it of power to harm you, I have conquered it for you.”[2] What do those words mean? They mean that anything that comes into my world must come face to face with Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, and must be more powerful than He is, must have more wisdom than He does because – you see, Jesus lives in me, and when you open my door, there He stands in all His glory! When all hope was gone for Him, He got up off His knees and said, “The hour is at hand. Arise, let us be going.”[3] How did He do that knowing what He was going to be facing in just a few hours? All I can say is – He did it! There is no way that I can face the situation I’m in right now. But, I don’t have to – I know that He can and that He will! He has promised, ‘I will do it all for you, Dear One”.[4] Hope never dies when Jesus is part of your life. Hope never dies when you have placed your trust in Him. Yes. Things may be rough. Tears may fall. Living each day may be awfully hard for you, but He can face it for you! “Abandon all hope” are three words that are not in the Believer’s vocabulary! For the Person to whom we have given our lives and who lives within us is Hope personified – Hope eternally and He has promised to never leave us, even when it seems all hope is gone. It seems . . . but it just isn’t true. Lord, You were troubled, to the extent that You sweat – as it were, great drops of blood. I am convinced that the drops of blood You shed[5] when You were praying about going to the cross were still drying on Your face when You got up and said – without hesitation, “My time has come. Let us be going.” I don’t think Your emotions slid down from a throbbing, undulating pain to a serene calmness. But You faced it. Why? Because You knew that the hope You longed for was still there. The hope for Your lost beloved children. Can it be that Your love for me gave You the strength to face the cross? That is an awesome thought, Lord. Your love for me! Your love for me gives me hope – an eternal hope, for with Jesus, there is always, always hope. I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. Psalm 130:5 [1] Matthew 26:39 [2] John 16:33 Amplified Translation [3] Matthew 26:45-46 [4] John 15:5 [5] Luke 22:44
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 13:17:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015