Hopelessness is like being buried alive. There is no window of hope; we feel like we cannot breathe. A great number of people are in such a condition. We see it in rising depression rates and the increasing number of suicides occurring daily. The majority is turning to the world for answers to depression and feelings of worthlessness, when the faulty world systems are what contribute to the problem in the first place. Those who suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts are seeking approval from others or relying solely on themselves to find happiness and joy. Still, these paths lead to more confusion and emptiness. Without God, real hope is nonexistent, and happiness and peace seem out of reach; life loses its meaning. But when we put our hope in God, things change—we see light even in darkness. Trusting the Creator gives us real strength, healing, wisdom, and the ability to face life’s challenges with confidence. With hope in God, we are overcomers, just as Jesus is. Jesus said, “… in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In God, we find rest and peace, which brings about true joy and hope that the darkest of circumstances cannot diminish.

Turning to the World

Many rely on the world’s experts—counselors, therapists, psychologists, and philosophers—to find solutions to life’s difficulties. Yet those educated “professionals,” schooled in man’s knowledge and wisdom, can only address surface issues. They, themselves, remain blind to the answers that are found only in the Gospel of Christ. If people expect to resolve all struggles through turning to the world, satisfaction remains elusive.

Throughout time, people have sought answers in medicine, idols, self-help, clubs, and communities. Lasting hope, however, is not to be found anywhere in the world’s ideologies. The ideas, beliefs, values, and traditions of men lead to persistent challenges like depression, approval-seeking, addiction, and the endless search for attention. “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes” (Psalms 118:8-9). How can we trust a world that hates Jesus to solve problems that exist because of man’s separation from God? We cannot trust the friends of the world to yield anything fruitful. Trusting in the world means that we set ourselves up for failure, rejection, disappointment, and disaster.

Trusting in God

Turning to our own worldly search for hope, we cannot get the proper help we need. However, putting our hope in God means trusting the promise in Scripture: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Believers who seek God are endowed with help and comfort of the Holy Spirit and can be victorious over demonic opposition and attacks to the mind. Those without God struggle against darkness. Recognizing that our true struggles are “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” as stated in Ephesians 6:12, clarifies that we are engaged in spiritual warfare that we cannot defeat with our own natural human powers.

The Scripture opens our eyes and shows us that human beings without Christ are only vessels of the wicked spiritual forces that inhabit their minds and hearts. Flesh and blood cannot offer solutions to the dark powers operating in the world. Worldly remedies are rooted in darkness, but God offers hope and blessings. God offers a way out for those who are willing to turn to Him. “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD … Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is” (Jeremiah 17:5, 7). Those with hope in God have access to the power of God; those who turn their hearts away from God have no power, no hope. He will neither rest in peace nor in power.

Rest and Peace in God

The world continually burdens us with tribulations to the point that godly rest seems to evade us. Living for the world robs us of power and peaceful rest. Jesus, through His love for humankind, extends hope to us. He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). True peace is found in God, not in the world. Weary souls always seek a way out, but they most often make a U-turn away from Christ. The natural man travels the wrong route, leading to destruction. The world in its fallen state cannot provide us with true fulfillment. Scripture says, “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22). Apart from God, minds are filled with worry and fear about the present and future. Their minds cannot let go of the past, but God gives rest and peace to those who trust His word. The peace God gives “passeth all understanding [and] shall keep [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Human efforts cannot guarantee real peace, since “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” (Jeremiah 17:9). People may be their own greatest obstacle, but Christians, by hoping in God, have a peace the world cannot fathom or give; Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:27a). Peace in Christ gives us the freedom that escapes the trapped soul. His word sets the mind free, and worry and fear do not keep the child of God encaged. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

All scriptures referenced are from the King James Version.