Lost.
Alone.
Forsaken.
Perhaps questioning their decision to follow this Man for the last three years. Maybe questioning their faith. And almost certainly afraid for their own lives--if the Romans had killed Jesus, and their Jewish religious leaders had delivered Him into the Romans' hands, what would become of them? They couldn't go back to the way it had been before they met Him. But I'll bet that many of them thought they couldn't go on. Judas had killed himself--was he better off than they?
Maybe you are in a situation in your life where hope seems lost. If you've lost your job, does it seem like you'll never find one again? If you've lost your home, does the specter of homelessness loom over your every thought? If you've lost a loved one, does it seem like life as you know it has stopped cold? Whatever situation you are in, whatever loss you have experienced, let me encourage you to not lose hope.
Many times in the Bible there are stories of three days' duration: a tragedy occurs on the first day, the hero lives it for an entire day, and the triumph comes on the third day. One example is Jonah. When he disobeyed God, he knew that he was the one being punished; to save his ship-mates, he asked to be thrown into the sea. He was swallowed immediately by a great fish. That was day one. On day two, he was still in the fish. What went through his mind? Did he think he might never see the light of day again? It wasn't until day three that the fish beached itself, and spit Jonah out on dry land.
Another example is Queen Esther. The wicked Haman had issued a decree, under the authority of King Xerxes, that all the Jews would be killed. This was the tragic event. Esther asked all her people to fast and pray, and she invited the king and Haman to a banquet on that first day. She invited the two men to a banquet on the second day. On the third day she prepared a banquet for the king and for Haman again, but this time she asked that her people might be spared. She did not know on the second day what would occur on day three--Xerxes could have declined the invitation to the third day of banqueting. "Listen, Esther, I appreciate the party, and nobody throws a party like you, but frankly, Babe, I've got a country to run. Lots of rules and laws to carry out. You know how it is. Maybe next time." But in fact, God had given the king insomnia the night before the third banquet. To help him sleep, the king asked for an aide to read the palace records to him. Lo and behold, the king was reminded of a huge favor that Mordecai the Jew had done for the king some time before. Esther did not know about this dream. She could only go by faith that her request would be heard and granted on the third day.
The periods of time don't have to be literal 24-hour days. Remember Noah? When the floods came, that was a pretty tragic event--the population of the whole world was killed, save the people and animals on the Ark. After what seemed like an eternity he still didn't see any land. So Noah sent out a raven to do some reconnoitering--if the bird could fly high enough or far enough to see land, then there might be a ray of hope. But the raven never found any land. Here, the "Saturday state of mind" lasted over 40 days. Finally, Noah sent out a dove, and the dove did find land, and hope was again re-kindled in their hearts.
So what do you do when tragedy strikes? What do you do when all hope is lost, and you wake up the next day, and the next, and so on? You've picked yourself up, dusted yourself off, and then what? In these trying times, you must redeem the time, and repent if necessary, and ask God to reveal Himself and to restore your joy.
Redeem the time
The temptation will be strong to just throw up your hands and give up. You may want to curse the situation, or the people that you believe caused it. When Job lost everything he had, including his children, his so-called friends concluded that he must have deserved it--God was evidently punishing him for something, so it was his own fault. Job's wife blamed God, and advised her husband to just "curse God and die." She lost everything, too, you know. She gave up. Job did not waste his time assigning blame. His attitude is found in Job 1.21(b), "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." After this, Job did some serious soul-searching. Was there anything that he could have done differently to avert this crisis? Or was it a truly random event, one that could not have been prevented or foreseen? Remember that God knows everything--He sees the future, and He knows what will happen. He knew it from the moment of Creation. Remember that the Bible says that God never gives us more than we can bear. Knowing these truths--that God knows, that He cares, and that He can help you through it all--this is what you should be thinking about after the tragedy strikes, while you are waiting for deliverance.
Repent (if necessary)
It may be that you deserved what you got. This doesn't mean that God can't work all things for your good and His glory. But if you lost your job because of something you did, then you should repent. If you did not do your best every day, or if you did not have the integrity and character to make yourself indispensable, then you need to ask forgiveness. If you lost a relationship due to negligence or bad attitude, then some soul-searching may reveal areas in your life that need work. Ask God to reveal to you anything that you might have done to have brought this on yourself. Avoid the temptation to fall into depression or self-loathing: you are an individual for whom Christ died!
Request God to show Himself to you
God desires fellowship with us. That fellowship may be broken due to your present circumstances. If that happens, Satan has won the victory. Believe Romans 8:28 to be true: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." You may not know what that purpose is, but God knows. The more you know God, the more you seek His face, the better prepared you are for realizing His purpose for you. Philippians 1:6 says, "[We are] confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Are you a child of God? Do you believe that He has a purpose in mind for you? Let not your heart be troubled. Ask Him to reveal His plan to you.
Restoration is coming--believe it!
Sarah Young has written a series of devotions on hope, called Jesus Today. In it, she writes, "I am not only with you; I am also in your circumstances. Moreover, I am in control of everything that happens to you. Although I am never the author of evil, I am fully able to use bad things for good. This does not remove your suffering, but it does redeem it--infusing it with meaning. So if you are in a storm of difficulties, I say to you, "Take courage. It is I." Search for signs of My abiding Presence in your current situation. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)"
Life can be pretty cruel. Don't lose hope; our God is greater than our circumstances. In the grand scheme of things, this major crisis may not amount to anything more than a footnote in your life story. At some point in the future, you will look back on this and see how it all worked out, and hopefully you will be able to see God's hand in it all. Just like the disciples, after the Resurrection, everything made sense. They took that knowledge, that victory, and changed the world. But during that Sabbath, that Saturday when their world had been turned upside-down, they sought comfort from one another. I'm sure they prayed to God to help them make sense of it all. Little did they know the miracle that was about to happen. This event, the Resurrection, inspired Paul to give this benediction in his letter to the Ephesians: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21).
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
Refrain
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain
