Tammy (not her real name) trudged home, her mind in a fog. Every day was the same, mundane, hopeless, and she went through each day in a daze, just going through the motions. Her father had absconded, and her family had been disunited all these years, each living their individual life, with no communication and no interest in one another. Life at home was probably no different from living in a hotel with strangers, Tammy thought. She was all alone essentially. Her lack of a loving family in her growing up years resulted in trust issues and she had only superficial friendships, and could not open up to anyone. Thus there seemed to be no bright hope for the future as she trudged on in her daily life, from the schooling years to adulthood.
Then one day, she attended a church event where she had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit, and her life started to change as the Holy Spirit changed her perspective of life, people, and circumstances. She was born again, according to Jesus’ description, “born through water and the Spirit, … what is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5-6). Through the subsequent years of healing, the Holy Spirit helped her to realize that in those years when everything seemed hopeless and dim, Jesus was actually carrying her through it all, even though she didn’t know it at the time. And as she lived her renewed life, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide her in following Jesus’ ways, her life changed for the better, with blessing after blessing given by God. Most of all, He gave her a heart and mind filled with Jesus’ peace, hope and joy – “And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).
And so I would like to assure anyone who may be feeling alone or hopeless, that God will look after you if you ask him to. Of course, change cannot happen overnight. Do hold on to God’s assurances, and He will give you what you need at His best and wise timings:
- “Yahweh, my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.” (Psalm 30:2)
- “He gives strength to the wearied, he strengthens the powerless. Young men may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble, but those who hope in Yahweh renew their strength, they put out wings like eagles. They run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire.” (Isaiah 40:29-31)
- “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
- “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” (Isaiah 41:10)
If you are hurting from your experiences, you just have to ask just like the leper asked Jesus, “If you want to, you can cure me,” and Jesus replied, “Of course I want to! Be cured!” (Mark 1:40-41)