3 Truths About Holding onto Hope in Hard Times 

Compared to some people I know, my life feels unfairly easy right now.

Friends and coworkers live in Beirut amid air strikes, some displaced from their homes. Other friends, living in the US, lost everything in recent hurricanes.

Closer to home, a cousin grieves the loss of his 20-year-old son after a fatal car accident. One of my neighbors will move to hospice this week, and another mourns the recent, sudden loss of his partner. It seems so many need a healthy dose of hope these days.

Hope is our greatest need

Life feels heavy. My heart feels heavy. My list of people asking for prayer grows longer every day. Tell me…is it the same in your corner of the world? 

I wish I could wave away people’s pain with a magic wand. I wish I could fix it for them. I wish I could make the hard time vanish so their normal and comfortable could return, but I can’t. For most, it looks like the hard time is here to stay for a long while.

When we’re going through hard times, we all need to know that others care. We need others to come alongside and lend a hand when we’re too tired to think or take another step. We need good listeners and faithful prayer warriors. But most of all, we need hope – “a desire accompanied by expectation.”

In 1991, the evangelist Billy Graham observed mankind’s need for hope when he wrote, “Perhaps the greatest psychological, spiritual, and medical need that all people have is the need for hope.”

A secular article titled “What is Hope and Why Do We Need It?” says, 

“If you experience hope in the face of adversity, your brain performs better, and you are more likely to make positive decisions regarding your health, such as adhering to medication and adopting healthier lifestyles in the face of chronic diseases. Experiencing hope dampens the anxiety circuits in the brain, and when you feel less anxious, your brain function improves.

The flip side of hope is fear, and sometimes fear and despair are easier to fall into than hope. Fear disempowers hope and paralyses action by activating the anxiety and fear pathways in our brains.” 

We all need hope in the face of hard times. Our mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being depends on it. So where do we find it?

These words point towards hope

It’s one thing to say, “Hang onto hope!” to others or to speak it to oneself when facing hard times. It’s another to know where to find hope in the first place.

Thankfully, God’s Word teems with wisdom. Check out these words written to believers facing hard times. (Hebrews 10:32-36 NLT)

“Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.

34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!

36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.”

The writer’s words tell us that believers were suffering persecution for following Christ (Hebrews 10:32-33). It appears that some had grown weary of their circumstances and were on the verge of giving up, so he encouraged them to persevere and keep their focus on what mattered most. 

This exhortation still applies today. When life feels heavy and our hearts feel heavy, too, let’s hang onto hope by remembering these truths:

3 truths to know about having hope in hard times

• Hard times are common to mankind.

Sometimes hardship falls on us because we’ve made poor decisions that carry consequences, but that’s not always the case. Remember Job? He did nothing wrong, but he suffered big-time.

Hard times happen because we live in sin-broken world. Let’s not ask, “Why me?” but rather, “What can I learn in this place?” Let’s face our challenges in God’s strength, and let’s offer strength to others when they face theirs. (Hebrews 10:33)

•  Hard times require us to make a choice.

The believers mentioned in Hebrews 10 lost everything they owned, and they chose to accept their hardship with joy (Hebrews 10:34). Amazing, right? 

These folks lived out the principle in James 1:2-4:

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”

They didn’t chose joy because the authorities took their possessions away. They chose it because they knew this testing of their faith would deepen and enrich their relationship with God. This mattered more to them than owning material things. 

We can choose joy amid hardship knowing it will put our spiritual roots down deep into the soil of God’s love and wisdom. Hard times grow our faith in a way that happy times cannot.

• Hard times are not the end of our story.

The writer of Hebrews encouraged the believers to patiently endure and continue doing God’s will knowing that their trust in the Lord would bring great reward. (Hebrews 10:35-36) In other words, their story wasn’t over.

It’s easy to forget this truth when we’re immersed in a difficult or painful situation. When we can’t see light at the end of the tunnel. When worry overwhelms us and lack of sleep exhausts us.

It’s easy to lose hope when we can’t see our way through, but let’s do as Hebrews 10 instructs and hold onto the hope we find in God’s presence with us and promises for us.

The enemy of our soul wants us to think the difficult experience we’re in is all there is and it will never get better, but that’s a lie. The hard time we’re in will end in God’s time and in His way, and we’ll be the better for it having trusted in His wisdom and care for us.