We are urged to manage stress these days as a safeguard for our own mental health and wellbeing. It is ironic that so many of us are greatly stressed at a time when the standard of living and longevity are at such peaks. The industrial and technological revolutions raised expectations and now we have AI to push the limits even further on what it means to be human. We are not made to live with so many demands upon us and so stress levels rise as we worry about work, relationships, money, world events and health. It can become unbearable for us when life events such as bereavement, divorce, or moving house are added in – no wonder that 20-25% people suffer with depression and suicidal thoughts. How can we find hope or is it too much for the human brain?
- ‘The universe is always speaking to us… sending us little messages, causing coincidences and serendipities, reminding us to stop, to look around, to believe in something else, something more’ – Nancy Thayer
- ‘Self-compassion encourages mindfulness, or noticing your feelings without judgment; self-kindness, or talking to yourself in a soothing way; and common humanity, or thinking about how others might be suffering similarly’ – Rachel Simmons
- ‘If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair’ – C S Lewis
- ‘I just think it would be a good thing to have a voice in the mix of all the hopelessness that actually gives you a light at the end of the tunnel; a voice that’s still honest about the pain and struggle, but can also scream, “Hey, wake up and be alive because there’s hope!”’ – Lacey Sturm
Mindfulness has a good aim for it makes you intentionally aware of the present – the noises, the environment, the people. Whilst ‘being present in the moment’ has real value, it doesn’t remove the stresses as you reengage with the real world. Lacey Sturm’s experience is significant for she had been an atheist and even contemplated suicide. Lacey began searching for hope which she found when visiting a church when someone spoke to her words that she believed to be from God. In her book, she wrote that after finding faith, she experienced life and God like never before. Discovering new hope, she said she felt God was saying: “Yes, I know you. I know all the things you have done. I am not shocked by any of it. Come close to me, my love, just like you are. I have already forgiven your past and future. And, if you let me, I will make you new. I will make you into all that I have planned for you. You are beautiful, my love”.
If you don’t yet have this ‘mindset’, it will be hard to understand what Lacey is saying about her transformation. Those without faith commonly say that they wish they had it and those who have lost it carry wistful regret. Whatever your own state of mind is, there are many reasons to be hopeful. Whereas a leech has 32 brains, you have one that is mature when you are aged 25. Your brain is unique and amazing. Weighing about 3Ib, brain information travels 350mph! Research shows the human brain consists of about 86 billion neurons. Each neuron forms connections to other neurons, making up to 1 quadrillion (1,000 trillion) connections. It runs on 20 watts of power. Believe it or not, your brain is where you work out what you believe! The design and capabilities of your brain are alone sufficient reasons to believe in God but here’s some things from him for your frontal lobe, the part of your cerebrum that is your inbox where thinking happens!
- ‘Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness’ – Lamentations 3:21-23
- ‘What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one wanders away from the rest, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hill-side and set out to look for the one who has wandered away? Yes, and if he should chance to find it I assure you he is more delighted over that one than he is over the ninety-nine who never wandered away. You can understand then that it is never the will of your Father in Heaven that a single one of these little ones should be lost’ – Matthew 18:12-14
- ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will’ – Romans 12:2
- ‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things’ – Colossians 3:1-2
The way you think will shape your character and the person you are becoming. Calling to mind God’s loving purposes for your life will protect your thinking like a guard and bring you joy that cannot be taken away
- ‘And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’ – Philippians 4:7
- ‘In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you’- Psalm 33:21-22
Whether you currently feel it or not, God is for you and not against you. When other thoughts come rushing in, call to mind reasons to be hopeful. Matt Redman refers to the time his father committed suicide and how that affected him. In this clip about his song ‘Never Once’, he tells the story of how he reminded himself of reasons for hope. It is well worth a listen and may help you ‘call to mind’ reasons for hope: https://youtu.be/de6M5iu3Ez8?si=17L3-UojopVQOJVp
For more reading and thinking: https://connect4life.org.uk/c4l-boosters/hope-because/
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