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There are times when all of us go through dark times. When the emotional weight can be so heavy, it leaves us feeling hopeless. We need hope. Hope is like oxygen. With it, we thrive, but without it, we die. I pray you find hope today. God is the God of hope. You feel you have lost your battle, completely drained, and unable to continue. You feel you are drowning. An encouraging word from someone sometimes may be all we need to keep going. Give us hope.
In 1957, there was a study of hope by Dr Curt Richter, a Harvard graduate and professor at Johns Hopkins. The experiment showed the power of hope and resilience in overcoming difficult situations. His study was done with rats and called Drowning Rats Psychology Experiment: Resilience and the Power of Hope. At first, Dr Richter put wild rats in buckets of water and they swam around. Some swam to the bottom to check it out, but none lasted more than a few minutes. Then he introduced hope and support to the next group of rats. He put the rats in the buckets and noted the moment they gave up and just before they drowned. He scooped them out held them a bit and let them recover. When he put them back this time, they swam and swam. This time, the only thing that changed is they had been rescued. Their rescue gave them hope.
Humans and rats are very different, but we still believe we can learn a lot from these experiments. Where individuals have hope, they have higher levels of perseverance. They will keep fighting when they feel a chance for success or rescue. Our resilience can be an important factor in our well being. Though these experiments are cruel and we may disagree, we shouldn’t ignore what people have already discovered.
My goal is to help you feel valued, respected, supported, and hopeful about your future. We need each other. We need to encourage each other. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. I believe with all my heart we need to help and encourage each other. Won’t you help someone today? Encourage them? Or encourage yourself to get up?
The Bible is full of refreshment for the weary. It will lift your soul and encourage you.
There are days we have nothing to give anyone to encourage them. Sometimes, he will send someone to encourage you or send you to someone. Find encouragement in God’s word. God can speak a word of encouragement to you every day if you open your Bible and read. Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. Hope comes from the encouragement of scripture. Won’t you open your Bible?
King David wrote Psalm 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the LORD, and he reached down to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud; And he set my feet on a rock, making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
I went through my trial of recovery and grief from losing my left arm. I couldn’t walk, and I was in the pit of despair. In the mud, so to speak. Grab the one thing that can give you hope in your situation. The one thing where you find the light. Mine was the Lord let me live.
At first, I couldn’t find that light, but when he showed me through scripture. I needed to be pulled out of the mud and look differently at my situation. I did. My husband and children were going through this as well. I could see it on their faces every time they were with me. There were three of them still at home. They looked at me for guidance. I couldn’t guide them; I wasn’t guiding myself.
My thoughts shifted from myself to them and what they must be going through. I started remembering the promises of God. Like King David, God brought me out of the pit of destruction, the mud. I realized the good things about my situation. Most people who have brain hemorrhages die. I was alive and was going to see my remaining children into adulthood. See my first grandchild born in April. This was my light to hang onto. I was on the right track now. Holding on to Jesus. I was being led now so I could help my family.
Find your light today. Dwell on the good, not the bad. Ask God to pull you out of your darkness and show you light.
I love what musician David Crowder and his band say in this song they wrote; He is. If you’re troubled heavy-hearted, come to Jesus and find your peace. If you’re run down empty-handed, come to Jesus and find your strength. He is hope for the hopeless. Rest for the weary. Help for the hurting. He is, He is. Mending the broken, bearing the burdens. All that you’re needing HE IS. Listen below. It will take you to YouTube.
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