How to Remain Hopeful Under Great Pressure

We all want to know the secret of how to remain hopeful under great pressure. Life is tossing us, pressing us on every side, and sometimes the pressure gets so intense that we worry for our lives or the life of a loved one. We can even despair to the point of death, but here is why and how we can make it through.

How to Remain Hopeful When a Tragedy Strikes

My phone rang at midnight. I answered with a shaky hand preparing myself for bad news. My husband had spent the whole afternoon in the emergency room because of a possible heart attack, but I was confident that it was something minor that could be fixed easily. “Madam, we need to make an emergency operation. The life of your husband is in extreme danger. It will take the whole night.”

In one second the fabric of “my normal” was torn away, and this was just the beginning. After two weeks in the hospital, four surgeries, and countless prayers, I got the most dreaded call making me faint – the news about my husband’s death.

As a believer, I wondered: “How am I supposed to pass through this agony and remain hopeful under the enormous pressure of such a loss, pain, and uncertainty?”

Hopeful Because We Rely on God Who Delivers

“He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.”  (2 Corinthians 1:10)

Our God is a Savior and Deliverer. This is an expression of His love and heart, and it does not change. Even when we despair to death, the truth is that His perfect will is to deliver us from deadly perils. We can remain hopeful when we remember the many times He has come through for us in the past and decide to set our hope that He will continue to deliver us.

Hopeful Because We Believe in God, Who Raises the Dead

“We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians 1: 8-9)

Friend, this is the reality. Our Christian faith is not a ticket to a pain and loss free life. Yes, we will experience times of great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, when we can despair of life itself and don’t want to live anymore. But in Christ, we have received a LIFE sentence. He is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, holding the keys of death and hell. (Revelation 1:18)

Do we truly believe this? Can we move to deeper trust and experiential faith? This can only happen in the deep, drowning waters of fiery trials.

Hopeful Because His Power Is at Work in Our Weaknesses

“We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

We can remain hopeful because the all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:7) This supernatural power of God is the firm foundation keeping us steady and strong.

We may crumble but we will not crush; we may be overwhelmed by doubts and questions, but we will not despair: we may be physically alone, rejected, or neglected, but we are never abandoned by our heavenly Father. Yes, we will be struck down, but we will not be destroyed. Our life is hidden in Christ and if He lives, we live too. (Colossians 3:3).

God is a way-maker, miracle-doer, and He gives us strength for every step of the way.

Hopeful Because We Can Trust God’s Good plan

“Yet it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief…  he will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. After he has suffered, he will see the fruit of his suffering and be satisfied.” – (Isaiah 53:10-11a NLT)

Friend, do you truly believe that God has a good plan? Do you still believe that the plan is good even if it contains crushing, grieving, and suffering? This is a great contradiction that causes us to struggle and doubt – hardship and joy, weakness, and strength, suffering, and growth. They all go hand in hand, contradictory in nature, the two sides of the coin of life.

Every crisis, every pressure, and every hardship contain a powerful promise – to bring us closer to the Lord and perfect our faith and character. It is destined to achieve for us an eternal glory that far outweighs all our troubles. And this is a good plan. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Your Turn

How did you remain hopeful when you were under great pressure? If this article has helped you, I would be happy if you share it on social media and comment. Thanks!

---

This article first appeared on OnTheWayBlog.com