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This article is from Today's Native Father, issue #120, January/February, 2002. Related articles from this issue:
Teen Depression is on the Rise
Bible People Who God Depressed?
Depression: When Should Parents Seek Help

How bad can circumstances get before we lose hope?

When we look at what is happening in our world, our communities and our homes, we see that many people are living with misery and pain. In northeastern United States, a dam was built down river from a certain town. Slowly the town was being overtaken by the water. All construction and improvements ceased. Potholes got bigger, houses were not maintained, fences sagged and nothing was repaired. Depression settled over the people. One resident commented, "When there's no hope for the future, there's no power for the present." Why bother doing anything if it isn't going to matter anyway, if it is just going to be swallowed up by a force bigger than yourself?

Some people and situations seem impossible to change. We may need to cope with them until the day we die. And many are choosing to die early by suicide. Others do "slow suicide" by drugs, alcohol or reckless living. They become a corpse tossed on the ocean of humanity. This affects everyone around them.

One of my recent Sunday School lessons was based on Isaiah 9. A message of hope was given to God's people who were in desperate circumstances. Enemy forces were laying siege to their capital city. Destruction was on every hand. There was famine, sickness and death. The future was grim. This had come about because the people had not obeyed God's instructions. The Prophet Isaiah had warned them and had foretold that these catastrophic events would come to pass if the people did not change their ways. But very few were listening. Not even the king paid attention. These people deserved what they were getting, and worse.

Although God was allowing the consequences and the people would be taken captive, God still offered them hope for the future. "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given...and His name will be called...Prince of Peace." Read this passage. It is beautiful! But you know what? This "Son" did not come to earth until 750 years later. However, He did come and this prophecy is still being fulfilled. There will be a day when He will reign on earth; there will be no more captivity, death or destruction.

So what does this have to do with ME? Will I need to wait 750 years for something in my life to change, for my hopes to be fulfilled? Maybe! There are painful things in my life that may never change before I die. But this "Isaiah 9 hope" is for me now in 2002. God's promises to His people of old came true, and I believe that all His other promises will too.

I have HOPE for today, a TRUST THAT SUSTAINS me. It gives me comfort that one day everything will be made right. All the things that cause pain in the world, in my family, in my life, will be removed. I know that I have been made for something better, Heaven! I plan on being there some day because God's Son has indeed come to earth to make this possible. He is the reason for the hope I have in my heart, and it changes my life today.

The world is crumbling all around me, but I have a hope, a trust that sustains me. Because I have hope for the future, I have power for the present.

Do you?

Ilva