"Hopelessness"

 "Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:20 KJV)

  "Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I almost lost me footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness." (PSALM 73:1-3 NLT) 

 Looking up hopelessness, I discovered that there were nine forms of hopelessness listed in three separate categories. Hopelessness in an emotion, which is caused by one or more of these nine disorders: alienation, forsakenness, lack of inspiration, powerlessness, oppression, limitedness, doom, captivity, and helplessness. 

 As I tried to figure where Solomon might be, in this list, as wise as he was, I figured that he was dealing with every one of them, in some form or fashion! As crazy as it might sound, when you know where your hope is found, losing hope, you tend to go through just about every sort of emotion you can, to try and gain that hope back again! 

 In this case, I will assume that Solomon is dealing with this out of curiosity, and not out a need; only because he says, that he went about to cause my heart to despair, which basically means that he was looking for hope in all that he had labored, as if there was anything there, and found nothing! This is basically what we do when we compare this life to another: our living for success, to living for others; our busy work, to the time we spend with our families; our holding onto this world, to holding onto the Lord. 

 The Psalm we see from Asaph, is one such example of what this looks like as he shares what it was like to be envious of those who lived for the world, and how they were so prosperous, even though they were so wicked. Not that it doesn't happen to us, we who follow Jesus and try so hard not to care for the things of this world; because it certainly does, from time to time. We just get a little taste, and it doesn't take much effort to be caught up in something that becomes an anchor, holding us firmly planted to this rock, instead of The Rock! 

 Fortunately, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, a Father that truly loves us, and Christ Jesus, the Author and Finisher of this faith, we have been given! Oh, you didn't know? I am sure someone has told you! At least once or twice, you surely should have heard it by now! Nothing you have of any good is your own: including faith! Faith in Christ comes from Christ and is given to us by God; so too, hope comes from God...   

"So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:18-20 NLT)