Hope in the dark
This Bible Plan is for anyone who’s hurting and doesn’t understand why. If you’ve lost something, someone, or your faith feels stretched to the breaking point, then this Bible Plan from Life.Church Pastor Craig Groeschel’s book, Hope in the Dark, might be exactly what you need. If you want to believe, but you’re not sure how, this is for you.
~
Hope
A living hope enables us to have both sorrow and joy. Our living hope is an inheritance achieved for us by Christ.
—Tim Keller
The book of Habakkuk concludes with his prayer, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:19 NIV).
When you consider what this prophet knew he was already facing, his sheer hope is stunning. “Even though the fig tree doesn’t bud and there are no animals in the barn, yet the Lord is in his holy temple. Even though it’s going to get worse before it gets better, be still all the earth before him. The righteous will live by faith. God’s word will be true. I will find my strength and my hope in the Lord my God, and he will take me to new heights.”
Habakkuk wrestled with questions, embraced reality, trusted anyways, and found his hope in God. If you take nothing else away from this Bible Plan, I hope you’ll remember what Habakkuk’s name means: To wrestle. And to embrace.
Both at the same time.
I remember when my youngest daughter, Joy, was barely four years old and playing on a friend’s backyard zip line. Since she was too small to keep herself from hitting the tree at the end of the line, she smashed her face square into its thick trunk. I can still remember hearing that crack! She fell to the ground, bloody and unconscious.
Panicked, I found a pulse, although not as strong as I would have liked. We rushed her to the ER, and the doctors began running tests. Once she regained consciousness, they tried to stitch up the gash on the bottom of her chin. But Joy wasn’t having it.
I had to pin her down.
I was lying on top of her, holding her body and head still while the doctor carefully dressed her cuts and stitched them up. She was sobbing, “Daddy, what’s going on? Please let go. Make them stop. I want to play. Please. I just want to play. Please don’t let them hurt me.” But I knew that if she was going to heal properly, she had to go through this.
Sometimes God holds like this, knowing what it will take for us to heal properly.
We wrestle and embrace. Both at the same time.
Yet in his arms, there is hope.
Pray: God, thank you for holding me. Thank you for healing me. Thank you for hope.
Accompanying bible verses
NIV version
Habakkuk 3:13-19
13 You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.
16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
Psalms 62:1-12
1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
3 How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.[b]
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God[c];
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
9 Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.
11 One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”
Romans 12:12
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Hope in the dark: A 12-day devotional – Day 10
