Prisoners of lost hope

Bondage, Fear, despair, depression are many of the emotions we experience when we lose our hope. We all are prisoners of lost hope at some point or another in our lives. Somehow we find ourselves locked in a struggle with pain or a wrestling match with sin. We refuse to look deep within ourselves during these struggles. We only want to find a way to deaden the pain. The emotional pain of the past and present transgressions locked deeply in our hearts. The hopelessness of all the devastation around us comes crashing in.

Many times we can’t find the way out of the entrenched and dark tormented prison in which we have found ourselves. Yearning for a ray of light, just a sliver of hope somewhere. We are trying to climb out of the murky recesses of our minds. The pain in our hearts is so great. We become bitterly, cold, and lonely—void of any life or passion.

I spend time at a local ranch that ministers to our wounded warriors after returning home from the battlefields. I have found that their biggest battle is in their own mind’s eye. They can’t forget all the terror they have seen and been a part of in war. They are unable to forgive themselves for the role they had taken on in the war zone. They have become a prisoner of their pain. A pain so deep it is too much to bear. Many times the only way out of that pain for them is to attempt to take their own lives. They live in the hopelessness of the devastation around themselves.

Four years ago, my husband chose to take his own life. He could find no other way out of the painful prison he was locked in. If only he had run to the stronghold (faith), to the protective arms of El Shaddai, “the all-sufficient One.” The one who sees.
Romans 5:1-4. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Jesus holds the keys to the lock. That key is called grace. We need to run to him in our darkest hour. When we get there, we have to look, be still, and listen and fall into his quiet place of peace. There, in his arms, we will find our peace of we are so desperately searching.
Hope gives us a promise of a future. Hope provides us with that ray of light to get out of that deep and dark prison. Hope in God will set you free, protect you, and give you the strength to get through the times of trouble. Ask him to set you free and shelter you from the storm. Know and trust with all your heart that he loves you and will give you the victory over your prison of lost hope!