I feel certain that most of you have felt desperate at some point in your life. Most of us have had times when everything seems so bad that there is no hope for a solution.
We usually feel that way when we are about to lose someone we love, when we are being mistreated, when we are in financial trouble, or when life just doesn’t seem fair. When we can’t make things happen the way we want, we feel desperate.
I have been thinking a lot about this issue this week, and I realize that there are many examples of this in the scriptures. So, if there are these problems in scripture, scripture should provide answers for us.
When I think of someone being desperate, I automatically think of Hagar. Hagar was the servant of Sarai, wife of Abram. Sarai was tired of waiting for the son God had promised Abram, so she gave Hagar to Abram. Hagar conceived, and Genesis 16:4 says, “She looked with contempt on her mistress.” Imagine how humiliated Sarai must have been.
When Sarai complained to Abram about Hagar’s attitude, Abram told her to do what she wanted with her. So Sarai was harsh with her, and Hagar ran away.
An angel found her in the wilderness and gave her a look into the future of the son she was carrying. The angel then told her to go back to her mistress. Her answer to the angel was, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me” (verse 13).
The second example comes from the book of First Samuel. In chapter 1 we read about a man that had two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah had sons and daughters, but Hannah had no children.
As she stood in the temple, verse 10 says, “She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.” Prayer with tears is about as low as one can get.
Hannah begged the Lord for a child, promising to give the child back to God. God answered her prayer with a son, and Hannah did not forget her promise. When he was weaned, she turned him over to Eli, the priest, and Eli raised him in the house of the Lord.
Another example of desperation that comes to mind is the widow of Zarephath. We find this story in I Kings 17. God sent Elijah, the prophet, to Zarephath where he found a widow gathering sticks. Elijah asked her for a drink of water and a little bread. She responded, “I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die” (verse 12).
Now that is desperation! This woman had no more food and was expecting to eat a little bread and die. As a widow, she probably had no resources to make a better life for her and her son.
Elijah convinced her to make the cake and to give it to him. Then she was to make a cake for her and her son. Elijah’s miracle provided her with oil and meal that never ran out.
The most desperate of all has to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. First she was given a child, a blessing, but hard for a young, unmarried woman. Thirty-three years later, she had to watch from afar as her son was crucified while she stood helpless to defend Him.
In each case, the feelings of desperation are apparent. As women, we can relate to every one of these women as they felt helpless, hopeless, afraid, and alone.
Some women have prayed desperately for a child. Some have been sent away by their families. Some have been down to their last dollar or had little food in their cabinet or refrigerator. Some may have watched their child die from an accident, killed while in service to our country, murdered, or some other tragic circumstance.
Though desperate, Hagar was obedient to the angel and returned to her mistress. Though desperate, Hannah prayed for a son in faith, believing God would hear her. Though desperate, the widow was obedient to the prophet’s words from God, and had food for her family. Though desperate, Mary found comfort in the words of an angel. Though desperate, we can find comfort in the scriptures.
God does not respond to us today the way He did to our examples from scripture, but He does respond to us. His promises are clear. His words of encouragement are true.
“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” I Peter 5:7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6
Desperation is a temptation. The ultimate promise of God for dealing with temptation is found in I Corinthians 10:13. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Sandra Oliver