There Is Always Hope in God

Greetings to you, dear brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, before our prayer, I want to share one important thought: about faith, about the importance of faith and trust in God in our lives.

The Gospel of Luke, chapter eight, tells how the disciples were once on the sea with their Teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ. Weary after ministering, Jesus fell asleep in the stern, and the disciples were rowing to the other side of the sea. And a great storm arose, the waves were filling the boat, a strong wind was beating against it, and they looked at Jesus in terror: He was sleeping peacefully. They woke Him and said, “Teacher! Do You not care? We are perishing!” And He, having awakened, looked at them and said, “Why are you so fearful? Where is your faith?” And He rebuked the wind, rebuked the storm, and there was a great calm (Luke 8:22-25).

And today I ask that very same question in our circumstances. I will let the Word of God ask us the question: where is our faith? Jesus did not expect them to stand up and rebuke the wind and the storm. He knew that at that time they could not even conceive of such a thing. But what did He expect from them? That faith, that trust, in their behavior, in their attitude in that situation. They could have woken Him calmly, without panic, and said, “Help us, Teacher!” This is what Jesus expects from us today as well, in the circumstances we find ourselves in: that we would not give way to panic, that we would have this faith that everything is under God’s control, in our lives too. Even the hairs of our heads are numbered, every one on each of our heads (Luke 12:7). He cares for us so much! And today He speaks about faith.

I want to read one passage: the prophet Isaiah, chapter thirty, a few verses beginning with the fifteenth.

“For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’ But you would not, and you said, ‘No, for we will flee on horses,’ therefore you shall flee! And, ‘We will ride on swift horses,’ therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!” In another translation it says: they will be swifter than you. “One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five,” meaning enemies, “you shall flee, till you are left as a pole,” or a post, “on top of a mountain and as a banner on a hill. Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed,” or happy, “are all those who wait for Him!” (Isaiah 30:15-18). Let us say: amen!

Here is the situation among the people of Israel: a hard situation, confusion, panic. And the Holy Spirit says through the prophet that there is strength in them, there is strength in the people of God, and that strength is in faith, in quietness: “in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But they did not want to listen, they disregarded it. God spoke about this: trust in Me. And they rejected it and said, “No, no, no, and no. We have horses, such swift ones, and chariots; we will harness them and flee to Egypt.” You will flee, and your pursuers will be swifter than you. They did not understand that the people of God, both at that time and today, have the great power of God Himself. But it is revealed only through faith: when we trust in Him, when we believe in Him, He reveals His power.

And He says to the people of Israel: because you did not believe, there will be a situation where one man will frighten a thousand. Look at it now: one sick person, and a thousand people can already be frightened, the very same thing again: the whole community, the whole city is set in motion, cities are already being closed off, in some countries and even here. That is the kind of panic there is. And God says today to His people through the Word of God by the Holy Spirit: trust in Me, come to Me, take up your faith, come with faith, seek Me. In this is the greatest strength and blessing. Glory to God!

And here it says, in the eighteenth verse: “the Lord will wait.” Why, Lord, why do You wait? Because He sees: the people of that time had no faith, they had abandoned their trust. And He keeps speaking to them, keeps knocking at their door, waiting: whoever trusts in Me, to him I will show salvation, him I will help. He will have peace, comfort; I will be able to help that person. He will not be tossed about, he will be calm. “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep,” David says, “for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). Our safety is Jesus Christ, our shield is Jesus Christ. God said to Abraham, “Abraham, walk before Me. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1; 17:1). Brothers and sisters, in trusting Him there is the greatest blessing, and in the future the greatest reward. Let us trust in the Lord! That is why He waits.

You know, Christ told the parable of the poor widow who sought help from the unjust judge, the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses six through eight. It is the very same thought, and now I will repeat it from the New Testament. You know this parable, I will simply remind you of it: “Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?’” (Luke 18:6-8).

Both in the Old Testament and in the New we see that God is looking for faith. He helps those who trust in Him. But those who say, “No, we have other ways, other circumstances,” abandon faith. You are abandoning the most important thing: your protection, your stronghold in these circumstances. That is why God waits. He waits with one purpose, then as now: that you and I would take hold of this trust, arm ourselves with it, and begin to pray to God with faith, begin to trust in Him. And then the calm will come. Christ said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He has this divine peace and rest; this is our stronghold, our strength.

Brothers and sisters, let us not cast away our confidence, which has great reward (Hebrews 10:35). This is your confidence, this is faith. So He waits for one thing: that we would believe in Him in any circumstances. And He says to the disciples, “Where is your faith? Did it stay back there on the shore? And what happened here?” So let us take hold of this trust. Remember how many times He has already helped you, remember how He has brought you and me through, and let us trust in the Lord.

We may find ourselves in circumstances like those Paul speaks of: we were in extreme circumstances, when humanly speaking we no longer had any hope of life, but we trusted in God, and He delivered us (2 Corinthians 1:8-10). Do you hear? He and the brothers trusted in God, and God delivered them. They were at the point of death, perhaps in terrible circumstances, and God gave deliverance. Through what? Through trust. Trust in God, brothers and sisters, in these circumstances. Today I call on each one of us: take hold of faith! Now we are going to pray, an hour of prayer, and if anyone can stay longer, keep praying. I know that many have already prayed today; I have prayed. Let us seek the face of God; this is our strength! Hallelujah! This is our shield. Glory to God, praise to our Lord!

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Psalms forty-two and forty-three: there the psalmist says three times an amazing sentence, an amazing verse. I will read this verse: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God” (Psalms 42:5, 11; 43:5). That is how the Holy Spirit inspired the prophet and helped him, and he said to his soul: why are you cast down, my soul? Brother, sister, why are you cast down? Do not think about that; hope in God, let calm come through prayer. Because when we fret, run somewhere, do this and that, God says: that is not trust, it will do us no good. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). “Look to Me, and be saved,” says the same Isaiah, “all you ends of the earth!” (Isaiah 45:22). Glory to God!

This is the living hope, brothers and sisters, of a loving God for His dear people. He shed His blood for us. And He wants us to remain believers to the end. Hallelujah! And He will be glorified in our lives, in these circumstances, through trust. Trust in what? In Him. Glory to the Lord! And in English it is put even more strongly. In our Russian Bible it is written, “What makes you cast down, O my soul?” but there it says why. Why are you cast down, O my soul, why are you disquieted? Why, why? God is our strength, our names are written in the book of life, we are His children, He has loved us, He gave His Son for us: how shall He not freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32). Do you hear? This is a wonderful life with God in any circumstances! Trust in God, hope in God. In God, do you hear, there is always hope!

I know: in circumstances like these, again, there are hardships, there is pain, but there is always hope, because our God is alive. It is written: He is the God of all hope, He is the One who gives hope (Romans 15:13). Hallelujah, glory to Him! Maybe you are going through a very hard time, but God says: I am your hope. Yes, maybe you do not even have a job right now; that is hard. The children are clamoring: let’s go here, let’s go there; it is hard to explain to them. Remember Israel, who walked through the wilderness; it was a terrible wilderness. They trusted in God, but what matters is to the end. Pray, be at peace, find time for prayer. How much news you watch, all these news reports! Yes, we should follow it, I am not against it, we should understand what is happening. But our trust comes through the Word of God and prayer. Encourage one another with the Word of God.

Today I say this before our prayer, to encourage you. Take hold of trust, living trust, and say together with me this important word before we pray together: in God there is always hope. Once more: in God there is always hope! Glory to Him!

And may the Lord bless us now to pray to Him with all our heart, fervently, that God would give us His mercy and bless all these circumstances, and turn them around. And let us pray for revival: that after this epidemic a revival would come, that many people would wake up and call on the name of the Lord. Let us pray for the church, for our neighbors, for healing, for all these circumstances. God says, “Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27), and in another place, “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). Let us pray with faith. Amen! Be blessed.

Dear Lord, we thank You, we praise You for this wonderful hour that You give us for prayer. You said to the disciples, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:40). Help us in this, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Let us pray, dear brothers and sisters.