There is Hope

"Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

Zechariah 9:9 (NIV)

Have you ever felt discouraged? Have you ever felt like what you are doing isn’t worth it? Have you ever felt like things will never get better?

Of course you have, we all have.

This week I learned about the Amazonian Jumping Fly. Research shows that these flies can jump 10 feet high… pretty impressive for a little guy, but that isn’t the most interesting part. What’s really quite intriguing is that if you were to put a jar over the fly and he jumps and hits the top, when you remove the jar he will never jump 10 ft high again, E V E R !!

There is something inside that tells him he can’t do it. The fly is limited to the jumping height of the jar and can never reach his potential again.

You and I were made to live out the full purposes God has for us, but the enemy uses discouragement like a jar to limit our kingdom effectiveness.

Maybe you feel like things have gotten too difficult, like there is no hope for you and your spouse to stop fighting and get on the same page, like there is no reason to continue to work this job that is going nowhere, like your kids will never come back to the Lord, like you will never be free from your addiction, like you will never find a group of good friends, or like your health and finances will never turn around.

That is what the enemy wants you to believe. He wants to discourage us and make us feel alone, insignificant, like things will never change.

But the devil is a liar. There is hope.

In Zechariah chapter 1 we find a group of people just like you and me who could choose to let their discouragement get the best of them, or go ahead and be about the Lord's work of rebuilding the temple.

They recently moved back to Jerusalem after the exile in hopes of a better life of Messianic Rulership. But life was hard and it didn’t look like that was happening so they started to give up hope that God was going to come through.

Have you ever been there? The thing in front of you is so big, you can’t see around it. All you can see is your temporary circumstance, and it is difficult to see that God cares or could even have a plan in the midst of your pain, loss, and disappointment.

When you are in a rut and losing hope you need to:

1) Get your eyes off yourself and your circumstance.

- A constant gaze at your own problems breeds negativity and limits your vision of the big picture.

- They were a part of the story, but not the center part of the story. All they could see was their Jerusalem, they couldn’t see the new Jerusalem that was coming.

- Their discouragement kept them from building the temple, the primary thing God had asked them to do.

When you are in a rut and losing hope you need to:

2) Enlist outside Voices.

- God has likely raised up leaders in your life like Joshua or Zerubbabel in the book of Zechariah who can inspire you to be all that God has called you to be.

- "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14, ESV).

- You need an abundance of counselors. People beyond your inner circle. Chances are your inner circle talks like you, thinks like you, and acts like you. When you are discouraged you need some outside voices with a different perspective to help you do what God is calling you to do.

When you are in a rut and losing hope you need to:

3) Worship in the midst of the struggle.

- Even when it doesn’t make sense. Worship stirs up joy and hope.

- I think about Paul and Silas were locked and chained in prison. If you remember, they chose to worship. It wasn’t an ideal worship environment, acoustics probably weren’t great, the temperature in the cell was less the preferable, but they worshipped even when it didn’t make sense.

Zechariah leaves the people with great hope and a reason to worship.

"Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth" (Zechariah 9:9-10, NIV).

Although they couldn’t see it God hadn’t forgotten them, and He hasn’t forgotten you!

This past week I listened to a podcast from the inventor of the You Version Bible App. He was talking about how every good entrepreneur needs a problem to solve. He went on to say that to the entrepreneur it is actually not a problem; it is an opportunity.

I think he is right.

For Your Reflection...

Could it be that maybe your current problem is an opportunity for God to show up and show off in ways you have never known? Could it be a chance for you to get to know him in a greater way? Could it be that your big problem put you in line for a big miracle that would be undeniably his doing?