The truth is, sometimes hope hurts. Having one’s hopes dashed again and again has a way of crushing a person’s spirit. It hurts to have eyes worn out from crying or strained from staring at the horizon, waiting. It hurts to have ears tired of hearing the deafening sound of silence, or the saddening sound of another round of bad news, when all it longed for was a bit of good news. It hurts to wait desperately for mourning to be turned into dancing, yet the mourning dirge still plays on, with not even the faintest joyful chant to be heard. Yes it hurts indeed.

Are you in such a season? Where you are waiting for the Lord to turn your captivity, to restore your fortune so that you can be like them that dream, with a mouth filled with laughter and a tongue with shouts of joy (Psalm 126:1-2)? Does it feel instead like your waiting period is stretching out endlessly, and your hope is being deferred again and again? Does it make you want to give up hoping? Beloved, you are not alone. As Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” The CEV translation says it can “break your heart”, the DRB translation says “it afflicteth the soul.”

What does this mean for us? Should we shut down any glimmer of hope because we are tired of moving closer to that glimmer, tired of hoping it’s the first glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, only to find out that it’s just a stray bit of glitter? Should we stop partway through the tunnel, because all we can see is unending darkness, and not even the dimmest sign of light?

Ah, but isn’t the alternative much worse? As Simon Peter said in John 6:68 (ESV), “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Do we really want to stay stuck in the middle of the tunnel, or do we want to allow hope give us the strength to take one step, and another, and another? If we are going through hell, do we want to give up somewhere in the middle or near the end, knowing that if we do, we will be trapped in that hell for even longer? Or do we want to persevere until we PUSH* our way out?

Thank God that with Him, there is always good news. Hope in God still remains the better alternative. We can keep pushing because we serve a God who is worth hoping in, a God who is faithful even when we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13). God is trustworthy, hope worthy, time worthy. He is solid enough to lean on, irrespective of the strength of the storm. He is a pillar and a rock. As a pillar, He can guide us through to the end of the tunnel and beyond (Exodus 13:21-22, Psalm 48:14). As a rock, He is solid, firm, unshakeable. Psalm 18:2 (NLT) says “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my Saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” “For who is a rock besides our God?” (Psalm 18:31).

Not only is He a rock, He is a fortress and a shield, which means if we are stuck in a tunnel and a train is coming towards us to destroy us, He will shield us and keep us safe from harm. Because being in the tunnel does not necessarily keep us immune from further attacks. Sometimes troubles like to bring their unwanted friends along from all over the place.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and to borrow a line from Sam Harris, “The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion.” Hope in God is not a mirage. When symptoms mock, when circumstances laugh, when sorrows sting, we have an option. Romans 12:12 (NLT) says we should “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” Not just a hope, but a confident hope, Hallelujah! Psalm 119:140 NLT “Your promises have been thoroughly tested; that is why I love them so much.”

We can hold on to our hope in God because His faithfulness has been thoroughly tested and He has never been found wanting. It won’t always be easy, but it is always possible and it is always worth it. As we long and hope for God’s rescue, may we continue to obey His commands (Psalm 119:166, NLT). Our circumstances may not inspire us to rejoice, but if we know our God, we can always be inspired to rejoice in Him.

During the hardest times, when the tunnel feels so dark, we can remember His Word in Hebrews 4:16 (CEV), that “whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.” I once read that HOPE stands for “Hold On Pain Ends”. This verse is a reminder that we have a place to go to while waiting for the pain to end, the throne of our Abba. And, we have His steadfast Word to comfort and strengthen us. The tunnel may be long, but it has an end point. The night may be long, but eventually it will give way to morning. And what a magnificent ending it will be when Jesus is our Omega. What a glorious morning it will be when Jesus is our Bright Morning Star (Revelation 22:13, 16).

I pray that we will continue to cling to God, to lean on God, to rejoice in God, to hope in God, for He will never ever fail. I pray that cracks will appear in the midst of our despair until hope bursts forth and completely shatters that pane of despair. I pray for the grace to trust God’s timing, for in our due season, in His appointed time, God will make EVERYTHING beautiful (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11).

May God continue to give us the wherewithal to wait well, to keep uttering one prayer at a time, to keep taking one day at a time, to keep taking one step at a time. For one day, one beautiful day, we will take a step and realise that it was that one more step that led us out of the dark tunnel and into a dazzling light, to the bright, glorious, joyful place of a hope fulfilled. AMEN!

*PUSH – Pray Until Something Happens.

Image source here.