Jeff and I recently returned from a vacation with my family. We went on a cruise with our family, and when you are on a cruise ship, you find that you have more time to think and observe your surroundings than you normally do in your everyday life. One day, I was sitting on the balcony looking out at the water. For as far as I could see, I was surrounded by water. It was all I could see on either side of the ship, all I could see in front of the ship, and all I could see behind the ship. Looking at the water and not being able to see land was a beautiful sight, but then I started really thinking about only being able to see water, and I started feeling isolated and alone. I imagined what it must feel like to be floating in the middle of the ocean and not being able to see land anywhere. Suddenly, I realized that that is what hopelessness feels like.

When we feel hopeless, we feel as if we are floating in the middle of the ocean and we cannot see land anywhere in sight. Hopelessness is one of those emotions that we all feel at one time or another in our lives. There is not a human on this earth who has not felt hopeless. The cause of our hopelessness is different for each of us, but the emotion is the same. As I sat there and thought more, I realized that I was okay, because I was basically in the middle of a large city in the middle of the ocean. Everything I needed was there, I was safe, and I knew that I was heading toward land. I maybe could not see the land, but I had faith that I would eventually see it rising over the horizon.

Then I thought about feeling hopeless again and realized that God is a lot like the cruise ship that I was riding on. He can provide everything we need even when we feel hopeless. He can keep us safe, and He can lead us to dry land if we only allow Him to take the lead. All we really have to do is have faith and trust that He is leading us in the right direction. Even in the middle of the ocean with water as far as my eye could see, God was sitting on that balcony with me that day. This reminded me of my own struggle with hopelessness, and I realized that God had been with me even in my darkest hour. I thought I was completely and utterly lost, but God was right there. He was leading me to dry land and a new sense of security and happiness and I did not even know it.

God never leaves us even in our most difficult struggles. He is always there whispering words of comfort in our ears and leading us to where we need to be. Even when we feel lost, He always finds us, and He always knows which direction to go. None of us is truly lost if we seek out God. None of us is completely finished or washed upped as long as God is with us, and the good news is that God is always with us. He is sitting next to me while I write this, and He is sitting next to you as you read this. God has the awesome ability to be everywhere at the same time. There is no end to God’s massiveness and to God’s love for us.

We may think that we have made it to where God no longer loves us or cares about us, but that is a lie that Satan wants us to believe. God will never give up on us. God will never leave us or forsake us. He is always in control, and He will always lead us to where we need to be. The beautiful thing is that He really doesn’t expect that much in return. All He wants us to do is have faith in Him and trust that He has everything under control. He wants us to be obedient to Him and to try our best to do well for our fellow man and ourselves.

If you never hear anything else I ever say, hear this. God loves you, and He will never give up on you. Others may have given up on you and you may have given up on yourself, but God is still there for you. None of us can ever do so badly that God is not there for us. God wants the best for all of us and all we have to do is follow Him. It is that simple, yet it is that hard. God wants us to spend time communicating with Him, and He wants us to listen to what He has to say. He wants us to have a positive attitude, and He wants us to love our fellow man. When we can do that, our lives will begin to move in a different direction and all the bad will begin to fade away. We will still encounter bad things even when we are following Him, but He will ease the stress and the pain of the bad and we will feel peace even in the midst of the storm. God’s gift to man is peace and as we all know, PEACE MATTERS.

~Dan~