When Everything Falls Apart, Hope Can Survive

Join Terri as she shares three spiritual truths to salvage hope in the midst of overwhelming tragedy and crisis. 

Many of us struggle to make sense of calamity in the world. Using David’s raw honesty and search for hope in Psalm 55, this episode may help anchor your faith in loss and devastating moments. We have reasons to hope.

Thank you for listening. Did you know that I have a Facebook Group called The Anchor Circle? It's a private community supportive, nurturing, where we meet on Zoom to discuss self-help, workbooks, guided imagery, Lectio, print book recommendations, and more. 

I invite you to join us!

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Transcript

Our world is struggling to make sense of the incomprehensible. Man-made and natural disasters, war lone wolf attacks and personal crises, assault our security and certainty. 

Is God aware of how we feel and what we think in these situations? 

Yes. In Psalm 55, David, the King of Israel, asked God to listen and to answer because his troubles overwhelmed him. David says: 

My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can't stop shaking.” 

Uncertainty, shock, disbelief, and questions coarse through his mind and body. David was on the run, his son Absalom and his men became his enemy and sought to kill him. Death stalked David as he moved through the wilderness, running for his life.

David felt betrayed, abandoned, and had a panic attack.  Dwelling on David's story is one way I'm trying to make sense of the Texas floods killing so many men, women, and children. Losing the children at the camps is one thing I can't put out of my mind. My heart mourns the loss of life, joy, and peace. 

I wonder how parents, brothers, sisters, husbands, and wives make sense of these tragic circumstances. 

Is God responding to their pain and heartbreak? 

I wonder how God will prevent hopelessness from taking over their soul. So I'm looking to David's story for answers.

Despite being on the run, David remembered to reach out to God saying:

But I will call on God and the Lord will rescue me. Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in my distress and the Lord hears my voice. He ransoms me and keeps me safe from the battle waged against me.

David cried out and fixed his eyes on God while offering his heart for solace and relief. He believed God could hear, see, and would respond. David grabbed hold of what he knew to be true of his God. 

What spiritual truth can we turn to during life-changing events? 

Grief and death do not have the final word.

In John 17:1-3 it says:

Father, the hour has come glorify your son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him.  And this is the way to have eternal life to know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

And in 2 Corinthians 5:1 it says:

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, (that is when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven. An eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 

Another spiritual truth: Your faith in God will stand the test of crisis and trauma.  

Matthew 7:25 says: 

And the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. 

This verse depicts you as a house with a faith anchored in God, our rock, a firm foundation.  God will bring spiritual first aid to you through believers in Christ, and your faith will not falter.  

Last, but not least, is this spiritual truth: Fix your eyes on Jesus, and he will renew your hope. 

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 and 18 say:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted but not abandoned. Struck down but not destroyed. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

These verses can be the first steps of a spiritual healing journey for the hurting and hopeless. For me, it helps me remember God has gathered the soles of those lost in the floods. 

For those of us that remain, our role is to fulfill our purpose, use our gifts, and be the hands and feet of Jesus to the survivors or anyone who crosses our path. Your prayers have power. Power to move God and to bring healing and to resurrect hope in those whose faith is fragile.

Do you know anyone who needs this spiritual truth? Someone who is struggling to stay anchored in hope? 

Please share this episode with them.  I will also be sharing the script on my Facebook profile, Terri Hutchinson.  It is for those who don't listen to podcasts. I hope it reaches those who need it. 

Thank you for listening. Did you know that I have a Facebook group called The Anchor Circle? It's a private community supportive, nurturing, where we discuss self-help, workbooks, guided imagery, Lectio, print book recommendations, and more. 

I invite you to join us, and don't forget, you can find me on YouTube. Search for Terri L. Hutchinson or Anchored Not Anxious for videos as well as the podcast. Subscribe so you don't miss what's new. 

Remember, you are not alone in your anxiety management journey.  

Until next time.