From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “Advent, a 25-Day Countdown to Christmas, Day 4”

God Is With You Always

Yesterday, we left off in the exile, when God’s people were trapped in a faraway nation. Yet, many had hope. Why? Because they knew God wasn’t done writing their story. In exile, they looked to past evidence of God’s care.

One of those stories was the story of Elijah. Elijah was a prophet who lived a few generations before the exile. A prophet is someone who speaks truth from God to people in power.

Elijah’s greatest threats were the king and queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel. Throughout Elijah’s story, he constantly let them know that their words and actions weren’t honoring God. But they didn’t listen. Instead, they doubled-down and even attempted to have Elijah killed.

Despite immense pressure in a hostile environment, Elijah remained faithful to God. And through his work, God led many people to know Him.

But Elijah still had moments where his hope ran out. On one occasion, right after a dramatic showdown with rival prophets, he felt intense despair.

Despair is the opposite of hope. It’s the feeling that the world is against you, and you’re doomed to fail. Have you ever felt despair?

Elijah hid in the wilderness and wished for death. But God met him in his despair and brought him food and water. Then, He invited Elijah to go to a mountain. There, Elijah had a powerful encounter with God that reaffirmed God’s care. This experience renewed Elijah’s hope and gave him the strength he needed to continue his mission.

Despair can overwhelm us, as it did for Elijah. Despair lies to us, telling us we’re alone and doomed to fail. But God offers hope. Hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.

When we look at how God provided for people in the past, it can give us hope for a better future today. For anyone dealing with despair, remembering stories like Elijah’s can be a source of strength. They remind us to have courage, no matter what opposition might come our way.

So, do you feel despair today? Maybe it’s about a relationship you’re about to give up on or a dream that feels like it’s dead. No matter what it is, God wants to infuse you with hope.

Sometimes life doesn’t go our way and we end up facing intense opposition. But God is still with us. We can face today with confidence, believing the best is yet to come.

Pause and Pray:

Lord, thank You for being patient with me. Thank You that when I feel hopeless, You are always there to renew my hope. Help me to fix my eyes on You and trust in You with my whole heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Thoughts

For years, I went to an infusion center monthly to receive a biological medication to help with my asthma. The infusion actually consisted of an injection in my lower arm and then I had to wait a minimum of half an hour to make sure that I did not have a bad reaction. So, with that in mind, I was interested in the use of the word infusion with hope in this devotional. The infusion I had replaced some allergen cells with cells that would fight against allergies, or at least that’s the way I understood it. And the hope that God infuses us with replaces the despair we feel over what we consider a hopeless situation. Nothing is hopeless to God because nothing is impossible for Him to do.

The story of Elijah in I Kings 19 is a testimony to God’s provision even when our faith is low or non-existent. Elijah had just defeated the prophets of Baal and then Queen Jezebel says she plans to kill him. Instead of leaning into God, he got afraid (let’s face it, we probably would get scared, too) and ran away and hid in the wilderness. There God fed him and God personally assured him that he was not the only prophet left. If Elijah can get discouraged so completely and still hear from God, then we can, too. We just have to be listening. Sometimes, I think we listen to the circumstances and fear the consequences, running away from God instead of toward Him.

I needed this reminder today and every day. I have a tendency to withdraw when I am feeling upset. I am trying to train myself to reach out to God and tell Him exactly how I am feeling, whether it’s frustration, anger or grief. After all, He already knows; I am the one who needs to get it out of my system by talking it over with God.

I like the scripture illustrated above that reminds us that our suffering is not just so that we can suffer and move on. We learn a lesson each time we go through something hard, if we just allow God to teach us. At the very least, we learn to persevere through it, to pray and keep on praying, to trust and keep on trusting, to be faithful to God because He is always faithful to us. He will infuse us with hope if we let Him.