Hope Stealers

In walking towards hope, I have stumbled upon two big obstacles in the road. I believe these two road blocks to be a few of satan's most powerful tools.

The first hope stealer is fear:
Fear is a feeling that gives satan and the angels of darkness more power than God. It leads us to believe that death, sin, or pain are great enough to break us. This feeling holds us back from fighting sin victoriously, embracing the freedom that trusting God gives us, or enjoying the life we're living today. By choosing hope, we give God our trust and place our confidence in what He can do instead of satan.

Fear leads to

Depression: The feeling of hopelessness that consumes everything. We often feel swallowed by the darkness and fear the power of that darkness.

Defeat: By believing sin to be greater than God, the battle is won in our hearts before we ever even face it. We choose to sin because it seems to be our only option.

Spiritual impotence: By giving fear more power than God, we surrender to satan as being in charge. When we give satan power, God cannot use us.

The second hope stealer is bitterness:
Bitterness is a root in our hearts that stems from a wrong done to us. Left unchecked, bitterness chokes out all joy and the chance to be merciful to others. It consumes us in a way that we cannot see, but everyone around us feels. No matter the source of the wrong done, bitterness always is directed at God. Bitterness makes us believe that God is against us, therefore He is not trustworthy.

Bitterness leads to:

Self absorption: Since bitterness keeps our eyes focused on the wrong that was thrust upon us, we often spend out time telling other people about it, meditating on it alone, and setting up every boundary we can in order to not be hurt again.

Judgementalism: Bitterness keeps us focused on the wrong done to us and the wrong done by and to others. In giving sin greater power than the forgiveness and freedom Christ offers, we begin to judge as only God should judge. Bitter roots always give room to the soil of pride

Spiritual impotence: Much like fear, by listening to satan's lies and focusing on the "power" of hurt and pain gives satan more power than God. When we give sin more credit than the mercy and forgiveness of God, He cannot use us.

Friends, I have seen both of these hope stealers at work in my life. Anytime I contemplate getting pregnant again, I am seized by an inexplicable fear of losing another baby. When I hear a pregnant woman complain about anything related to the child within her womb, I am overwhelmed with bitterness that she gets to be pregnant instead of me. These are satan's tools to keep me enslaved to my flesh and my feelings. God longs to set us free! By acknowledging fear to be a valid feeling, but proclaiming God to be bigger than any of our fears, we give Him the glory He deserves. This also opens our hearts to be encouraged by His Holy Spirit. By acknowledging the bitterness that longs to spread out in our hearts and asking God to forgive us, we open our hearts to receive His mercy and then extend His mercy to others.

The next time you experience fear, read this verse aloud. " if we live, we live for the Lord or if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lords." Romans 14:8

The next time bitterness threatens to choke out all joy read these verses aloud.
" Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. be kind to one another tender hearted forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31-32
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