Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear!  Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”  Isaiah 35:4

I have recently watched a friend’s salvation.  Not salvation of his soul; he already had that.  I have watched him saved from hopelessness, saved from the sense that life was over for him in every good way.  

God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 that He has a plan for us, a plan for good and not for evil, that we may have a future and a hope.  He tells how our life has His design’s imprint before we are born (See Jeremiah 1:4-5 and Psalm 139:16).  Things happen just as they are written.  We can be assured that as God has ordained, His purpose will be disclosed.

Without revealing the confidentiality of my friend’s reasons for despair, let me just say that he had been pushed down emotionally for a number of years.  He had been made to feel he didn’t count, that he was somewhat in the way.  He pressed through each day without joy or expectation of meaningful life ever again.  He was waiting to die.  But recently his heart was stirred in an unexpected way.  As he says, “Never could I have imagined this; I can’t dream this good.”  And with that divine intervention in his life, he began to regain his self-confidence.  He began to see himself through God’s eyes.  He began to reach for those things he had thought he could no longer do.  He reached – and he caught hold.  Now he is living out exactly what God had planned for him before he ever took a breath.  His life is filling up with success after success, joy after joy. 

It doesn’t matter our story of disappointment and heartache as much as it matters that we believe our God saves.  When we can grab hold of the belief that God cares for us and stands true to His word to never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), mighty happenings will occur.  Things will fall into place that we never envisioned for ourselves.  Things will be added to our lives that show they are straight from the hand of Almighty God.  We will stand back and take a hard look and say:  it is true that my God will come and settle the scores and make up for my loss; He will save me from hopelessness and despair. 

 Don’t give up, whatever your situation, for His plan for your life hasn’t gone away.  It may be in a holding pattern, but God has not stopped loving you.  He hasn’t forgotten where you are or what you need.  You are His child, and because of that, you have the right to expect the unexpected.   Someday these words will be yours:  “No longer shall you be termed Desolate . . . for the Lord delights in you.”  Isaiah 64:4