“Despair and hope are inseparable... One can never understand what hope is really about unless one wrestles with despair.”
This quote really struck me in the passage we read because of the truth behind it. It is impossible to truly experience hope unless we have faced devastation.
Grief and despair have been a topic that we have continually covered in Intro to Lit. It has been so interesting exploring grief and how we as humans respond to it.
I felt that in reading Darkness, Questions, Poetry and Spiritual Hope a familiar theme was presented.
I think that it is so easy for our response to be “why?” As a Christian, I have turned to Christ many times wondering exactly what He is doing in certain situations. Scripture tells us that He works out all things for our good. However, when faced with despair and agony, it is easy to question the purpose behind the heartache.
In Corrigan’s article, he states: “ Facing darkness, ultimately is not about darkness but about hope, about validating our spiritual hope.
I think it is so important for us to remember that in times of complete devastation, Christ has purpose in everything that happens in our lives.
In the beginning of this semester I was struggling with some really difficult things. I had undergone a lot since the summer and had been trying to push everything that had occurred aside, thinking that doing so would make everything easier to cope with. Accepting hurt is a scary thing to do and I was not allowing myself to fully admit to everything that had happened. One can only go through denial for so long. After a long conversation with someone very close to me I realized that I was going to have to face the pain in order to experience freedom. I am still going through the healing process right now but have been absolutely amazed at what God has revealed to me since then.
Sometimes we have to undergo the pain and hurt in order to experience hope. I couldn’t see the hope that God promised until I came to terms with the grief.
Corrigan concludes his article stating how Jesus promises to never leave us. “ The presence of God with us in the darkness makes it possible for us to sit with the question of darkness without being destroyed by madness.”
Through His promises, we find purpose in our darkness.
You know I think that in the difficult times is when you can grasp hope in Christ the most. Scripture says:
ReplyDeleteI consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Hard times are promised but the greateer promise is that the Glory of God will be revealed in us.