Christ In The Moment

When Hope Feels Lost: Recognizing Christ in the Moment

When Mary was at the tomb, Jesus asked her a question:
“Whom do you seek after?”
She answered, “I seek after the Lord. Where have you taken Him?”

You see, Mary was in a place and time where all seemed lost. They had just killed the One who had delivered her from her demons. Her spirit was in turmoil. The promise of the future seemed lost. Hope was deferred so badly, she became blinded and sick.

Proverbs 13:12 – Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

All was lost to Mary. The One she loved was destroyed—reduced to an unrecognizable pulp. The promises of a better life were seemingly gone. Hope was shattered. She had nowhere else to turn except to an angry and sorrowful blame.

“Where have you taken Him?”
I can’t see Him anymore. I don’t feel Him.
Heaven has turned to brass, and the earth to hardened clay, baked in a furnace.
What is supposed to be glorious is now portraying death.
Where do I turn? What do I do?
Why? Why? Why?

Tears are pouring out—tears of anguish and despair. Needing hope. Wanting hope. Desiring just a glimpse, a chance that happiness might come.

If this doesn’t stir some kind of realization in you, you might need to pinch yourself—or call the coroner. Because we’ve all been in this place, where all seems lost and no hope can be found.

We find ourselves in a Peter dilemma:
We step out of the boat to trust Jesus, but the waves start slapping our ankles. Water splashes up to our knees.
We begin to sink.
But we don’t have to stay there.

Here’s the rest of the story:

Proverbs 13:12b – But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

Christ didn’t leave Peter to drown. Hallelujah!
He grabbed Peter up and helped him back to the boat.

Let’s go back to Mary.
As she asked the man in front of her where they had laid the body of Christ, Jesus spoke.
He said, “Mary.”
And in that moment—all hope rushed back in. She recognized Jesus.

There are times when things have to die in your life so that the promise can come forth.
Yes—it hurts.
Yes—we grieve. That’s natural.
But we’re desiring something spiritual. And when we don’t recognize God’s hand in our situation, it can bring grief and despair—especially when the dead things in our lives rise up, only to remind us of what they are: dead things.

But then—the hope of the promise appears.

And if we aren’t careful, we’ll be grieving our loss so deeply that we won’t recognize the resurrected promise standing in front of us.

That promise has to shake us—
“Robert! It is ME! Wake up out of your stupor! Recognize ME!”

At that point, our eyes open.
The fullness of who He is hits us.
We fall to our knees and cry:
“Father God, how great You are!”

I said all this to say one thing:

Your hope may be deferred, but don’t be so blinded by what you’re going through that you don’t recognize Christ when He walks into the room.

Be encouraged, saints of God.
Trials and tribulations will come, but God has overcome the world.
Stay focused. Stay prayed up.

If a true promise has been spoken to you—even if it’s deferred—when it comes, it will bring life.

So recognize true promises, not just someone’s sensual desire to be heard.
Not everyone who calls themselves a prophet is one.
Some speak sensual words, not Holy Ghost–breathed words.
Learn to recognize the difference, and a lot of your hope won’t be deferred in the first place.

Wait on God.
Let your strength be renewed like that of eagles—so you can walk and not faint, run and not grow weary.

Hallelujah!
Give me a few seconds, and I’ll start preaching.