Hope for the Hard Times

Life can be…difficult. No one lives a trouble-free life, but the fact that life brings trouble is not the point. How we face the troubles of life is the heart of the matter. It is when life is the hardest that we need hope the most – and when hope seems the most difficult to find. Hopelessness, then, is the threat that must be dealt with, but how?

In the book of Daniel, we find the story of three young men with strange names – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They are names familiar to any who ever went to Children’s Sunday School or had a Children’s Story Bible. This is, however, a very grown-up story. When it comes to life being hard and bringing trouble, these young men faced a level of difficulty we would find hard to understand or to face. Through an unfortunate series of events and plots against them, they now faced a very simple choice: bow down and worship an idol (which they understood violated God’s command) or be thrown into a fiery furnace (which they understood violated their desire to live)! If there was ever a time for hopelessness, this was it. My favorite part of this story is their response to this dilemma, which is found in Daniel 3:16:

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. ” (Daniel 3:16-18 NIV)

Now, that is a whole different level of hope! “Our God is able to deliver us…!” This truth seems to be the goal of a lot of Christian teaching; to come to the realization that it is God in whom we must trust, that it is God alone who is able to deliver us from the problems we face. He is! And He does…sometimes. Other times, however, He allows the problem to persist, the difficulty to last longer than we think is right, and the painful threat to remain staring us down despite all our faith. What then? Where is hope to be found when the help we expect to come from God delays? Do we give in to despair? Do we give up and quit? Or do we get up and double down? These three young men answered with a tenacity I desire, “Our God is able to deliver, but even if He doesn’t, we will not bow down”!

Here is the problem: this level of courage is not something we can produce in and of ourselves. Sure, we might be able to muster enough bravado and bravery to face the difficulty of overcooked eggs, busy traffic or the ink running out in the printer. But what happens when the doctor gives us a diagnosis we never expected, or a loved one’s life ends sooner than we had hoped for? How to we motivate ourselves to courageously stand when a lifelong career ends against our will or a lifelong spouse leaves without our understanding? How do we hold on to hope when life and death are in the balance, and we feel we can’t face another day?

God is able! Able to do what? Able to sit right where He has always sat…on the Throne! There’s more to that Throne - Jesus sits there, too, our perfect Savior and Friend. Jesus, the one whose death tore the temple curtain in two, the curtain that denied us access to the Father. How do we face the hopelessness of life?

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16 NIV)

The greatest tragedy in life is not to fall down, it is to stay down. When life is too much for us to handle it is simply being exactly what God designed it to be!

After their brave answer to the king, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego received only a shrug of indifference from him and a one-way shove into their end. Have you been there? I have! Standing on the edge of the blazing fire, all faith applied, every prayer said, every hope declared…then the shove from behind, and then the fire!

It is a surreal moment when you realize deliverance is not coming.

But God is able! He may not always provide deliverance, but He always provides His Presence! Once the men are thrown into the fire, the king wants verification, and what he witnessed was astounding!

The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, ²³ and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” (Daniel 3:22-25 NIV)

God does not always provide deliverance, but He always provides His Presence! (Yes, I know I repeated that. It’s important.)

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10 NIV)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 NIV)

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV)

Sometimes God provides a way out. Other times God leaves us, right where we are, in the midst of life and troubles. It is then Jesus puts His arm over our shoulder, looks at the hell we are facing, and says, “We’ll get through this together. I am here.”

Hope is not a feeling. Hope is a path and a promise. Hope is a Savior who will never leave us. Hope is all we have…and all that we will ever need.

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)

¹⁶ People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. ¹⁷ Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸ God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:16-20 NIV)