Officially Hopeless
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
John 11:14-17
The official Jewish teaching was that upon death, the soul would linger near the body for three days, hoping that it would return to life. After three days, the soul would return to God and await the time of resurrection.
The fourth day meant that the situation was officially hopeless.
In this devotion today, I want to change your mind about the term “officially hopeless.” The word official carries with it an unspoken rule that it is an undeniable, unchangeable fact. But to what extent are we to trust in something that is official?
There was once a time when scientists declared the earth to be officially flat.
When Edison announced he was working on an electric lamp in 1878, the British parliament set up a committee to look into the matter. Their official conclusion was that the electric lamp: “[is] unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men.”
In 1895, a leading scientist officially declared that the prospects of “flying machines are impossible.” Eight years later, two bicycle repairmen, Orville and Wilbur Wright proved him wrong.
The point I’m trying to make here is that man’s declaration of facts cannot always be trusted. The world scoffs at those of us who make a declaration of faith and insists that they only believe the facts. But there is something seriously flawed with that notion.
The issue is not between facts or faith
The issue is choosing where we will place our faith. Saint and sinner alike will place their faith in something or someone. So the question becomes, will we believe God or will we believe man?
There is a dear lady from my home state who had went blind and the doctor informed her that both of her eyes were dead. The diagnosis was grim with absolutely no chance of recovery. This situation was officially hopeless, but this lady chose to believe God. She and her church family banded together in prayer for her healing. Shortly afterward, God restored her vision and she began to see with perfect clarity!
But here’s the part you need to understand. When she went back to the doctor for an examination, he declared that there was no possible way that she could see because her eyes were still officially dead! That dear saint replied, “Doctor, you can put whatever chart you would like in front of me and I’ll read you every line.”
What part of your life is officially hopeless?
We have accepted far too many situations as officially hopeless when God is saying, “Only Believe!” In our opening scripture reading of Lazarus, we found that Jesus waited until all earthly hope was gone. He waited until the Jews would identity Lazarus as officially dead. He waited so that he could perform an official miracle! So why would we ever believe a situation to be be hopeless when He is our hope? If you truly believe in Him, then you will begin to hope in Him.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13
The Lord does not want you to simply have hope for your situation, He wants you to abound in hope! Christian, take courage in your “officially hopeless” situation. With man, it may be impossible, but with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE! And that is Official!