Hope for the Hurt

Hello! Oh, it’s such a joy to have you comin’ by here today, friend! Won’t you come right on up to this ol’ front porch for a minute or two? I was sittin’ here watchin a proud ol’ tom turkey gobbler struttin’ himself across the yard like he was runnin’ for mayor of the whole barnyard, his chest all puffed out, his feathers plum shinin’, with not a care in the world. But the minute a big ol’ gust of wind kicked up and rattled the tin roof, that ol’ turkey flattened himself like a lil’ ol’ pancake and went waddlin’ off in a real big hurry. It got to remindin’ me of somethin’ life eventually teaches each and every one of us. Sooner or later, life sho’-nuff humbles us. No matter how strong we think we are, how steady we git to feelin’, or how well things seem to be goin’, life has a way of knockin’ the strut right on out of us.

Maybe the job promotion was not enough for you. Maybe the scary diagnosis came. Maybe somebody you love died. Maybe your marriage hit a rough patch. Maybe your kids made some choices that plum broke your heart. Maybe anxiety set up camp right in your chest like an ol’ possum that refuses to git himself out of the barn. Every belief has to answer one question. What do you do when life gits to hurtin’ real bad?

The Bible never promises that Christians will be avoidin’ pain. It plum promises something a whole lot better. Romans 5:3-4 says, “Suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope.” That there means sufferin’ has meaning. Failure don’t have to define you. Forgiveness is sho’-nuff’ possible. And you never walk through the darkest valley alone. Psalm 23:4 reminds us that “even in the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us.” And death itself just don’t even get the final word. First Corinthians 15:57 declares, “Thanks be to God. He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

That’s plum why, after all these centuries, millions of ordinary people still open the same Book. Not because life is easy. But because hope built on truth is a whole lot stronger than hope that’s built on wishful thinkin’. Isaiah 40:29 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” That ain’t wishful thinkin’ either. That’s a real promise.

Friend, maybe, just maybe, there’s more to the Bible than you thought. Maybe the God who carried generations before you is ready to carry you, too. Life will sho’-nuff’ humble you, but it won’t destroy you when your hope is plum anchored in the One who don’t never change.

Father, when life humbles me, remind me that You are near. Give me strength for the pain, courage for the fear, and hope for the days ahead. Teach me to trust Your truth more than my feelings and Your promises more than my circumstances. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Goodness gracious, friend, don’t you be lettin’ today’s troubles convince you that hope is plum out of reach. Hope may feel real small right now, but it grows when it’s planted real deep in God’s truth. Just as a sunrise surprises even the crankiest ol’ barnyard goat that plum thought the night would last forever, God will shine light into the cracks of your darkness again. His steady presence will still be holdin’ you upright, remindin’ you that humbled hearts often change to become the strongest ones that God can use to bless other hurtin’ hearts.

With joy,

Gwen