When Hope is Hard

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)

Hope doesn’t always come very naturally to us. We may look at others around us and think that they have it all. Perhaps it seems that no one has it quite as hard as you do and that while others are thriving you continue to be knocked down.

This is a hard place to be but know that Jesus is in that place with you. In Matthew 5:4 Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Life can be hard. Although there is much beauty and joy, there is often also much pain and suffering. Things don’t always go the way we plan and sometimes it all feels like too much.

God doesn’t promise us an easy life, but he does promise to heal the brokenhearted and to bind up their wounds. He promises to comfort those who mourn and to never leave or forsake us in our sorrow. We may not experience a full recovery from our painful circumstances or perfect clarity from the fogginess of depression in this lifetime, but in all of our pain and sorrow, Jesus our Comforter is with us.

When hope is hard, let us cling to the One who comforts those who mourn, and when we feel that we don’t have the strength to cling to him, let us trust that he is holding fast to us.