HOPE: Holding on with Patient Expectation

A lot of people in our culture today are starting to lose hope. Experts say that one of the reasons suicide rates are so high is because people have lost hope.

From the inside of a very large fish, Jonah was beginning to lose hope. But then he prayed. Jonah said, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. . . . But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:7, 9 NKJV).

Notice that Jonah didn’t have any promise that God would deliver him from the belly of that beast. But he gave thanks to the Lord while he was there.

Maybe you’re going through a hard time right now, and you’re thinking, “I don’t feel like giving thanks to God. I’ll give thanks when I get through this problem.”

Give thanks to God now. When Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for preaching the gospel, we read that “at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25 NKJV).

The Bible says, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! for His mercy endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34 NKJV). It doesn’t say, “Give thanks to the Lord when you feel good” or “give thanks to the Lord when circumstances are good.”

If you’re losing hope today, don’t give up. I don’t know what kind of situation you’re in right now, but you’re going to get through it. Remember this acronym for hope: holding on with patient expectation.

Don’t lose hope. God is in control. God is sovereign. And if He got Jonah out of a fish, then God can get you through whatever you’re facing today.

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