Hope in Dark Times
1 Kings 16:33
“And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”
In the verse above, Israel faced some very dark days. It must have seemed that there would be no hope. The Scriptures say that “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel…than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” For those who wanted to do right, this must have seemed as if they had no hope. Ahab destroyed the worship of God. He made Baal the national god knowing that Jehovah God would be angry with him. Yet, Ahab didn’t seem to care. Those who wanted to do right had certainly entered a dark era.
Do you sometimes feel that you are in dark days in your life? Do you look around and see society and wonder if there is any hope? Are there times when you go to work and see the wickedness from fellow employees? Do you hear the cursing and see the vileness protruding from the lives of those around you? Do you feel that you are all alone in your stance for truth? These feelings can certainly grip the heart of any Christian who desires to do right when you look at the affairs of this world.
Fortunately, God is still on the throne and is not going to sit idly by and let the heathen blaspheme His name. If you only read this chapter, you would think that there is no hope in dark days. Yet, the very next chapter starts out by saying, “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” (1 Kings 17:1) In the darkest of times, God provided a man of God. In the worst years of Israel’s history to date, God gave them an Elijah. You see, there was hope in dark times. God came through when they thought it was all over.
Christian, let me encourage you that in the darkest of times, God always comes through. When it seems as if it can’t get any darker, I promise you there is still a light that can shine, for God is still on His throne. You may feel that all hope is gone, but it is not gone. God will come through for you just like He did for Israel.
I don’t know what you are facing today, but let me encourage you to not give up hope. You may see hopelessness all around, but you must keep doing right and believe that God will come through for you. You must realize that the light of God can shine brightest in the darkest of days. The darker things get the brighter God can shine through your life. His light can only shine if you allow Him to shine through you. Elijah lived during the same times as every other Israelite, but He yielded himself to God and allowed God to shine His light through His life. You can either let the dark days cause you to live a life of hopelessness, or you can yield yourself to God and let your life be the light that God shines through. If you will be the conduit for God’s light to shine, then you can be that beacon of hope that will lift the spirit of others when they believe all hope is gone.