Fighting for the Hope that’s Within

Hope itself is like a star — not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.

CHARLES SPURGEON

I stand here looking at the destruction of my life because of the choices I have made. The house I once worked hard to build now has smoke rising from it, holes in the roof, broken windows, gaping cracks, and starting to fall to one side. The ones I want close to me, who I love, are backing away, avoiding any more pain from me.

Where do I find hope in my brokenness and loss of my life?

I left off the last blog saying there is hope. This hope is alive in us, and it will bring life and light back into our individual lives. Even as you face whatever circumstance that has ripped at your heart and soul, hope is within you. No matter the consequences of your situation, you can thrive in life again.

As I stood before my crumbling house alone, my thought was, “now what?”. To renovate the hope that’s within me, I chose to find a way to redefine who I am and what I wanted from this life given to me. I desired to rise and fight for my created purpose.

The other side of choosing hope in your life is to succumb to hopelessness. As a young teenager, I let despair overcome me, and I attempted suicide. From this event, I found pornography to numb and escape my emotional pain. In the last few months, I lost a brother and nephew to suicide. It was their way out from the dark hopelessness they felt weight upon them. They made their selfish choice to escape instead of finding life anew.

“See the light of Hope”

I am not a professional counselor, but if you are in the depths of despair wanting to take your life, please seek help. 1-800-273-8255 www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org Start with these resources. You were created with a purpose to live for. When submerged in your own darkness, it’s too difficult to see the light of hope. In the light of hope, there is strength and renewal of the soul. As you find the strength of your soul, you begin to see the beauty and joy of life around you.

• You are enough
• You are loved
• You have been given abundant life

I want to share my story about how I rebuilt my hope to help encourage you through your journey.

My first step in discovering hope was to join a group of men that were in various stages of pornography addiction recovery. Being with others who have your same struggle takes away the lie that “nobody understands.” Having that lie removed opens up more possibilities for hope to grow within you. Wherever you are, find others who have struggled in your arena of hurt and pain. Doing this will start developing connections that help you thrive and grow out of your darkness. Those relationships create more opportunities for hope to flourish.

Another avenue where I found hope was in my spiritual life. Step 2 in most recovery groups – come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Hope and healing need to cover all aspects of humanity. We are not only physical beings with behaviors. We also reflect our Creator by having a spiritual element in our lives. I found hope in talking with Jesus. Address your spiritual side of your life; seek the One who gave you life.

Sent Me to Heal the Brokenhearted

Jesus

My journey with Jesus is a personal one where I find joy in Him. To develop this, I apply the same strategies of human connections to my relationship with Jesus. Conversations throughout the day, asking for guidance, telling Him of my emotions, and being vulnerable with Him. Jesus gives us the strength to walk through every day and is the author of our hope and healing.

Finding ways to overcome an addiction and seeking to know our spiritual selves has two components in common. It requires us to look outside of ourselves and lean on the support of others. We cannot fix ourselves. We need others in our lives to hold our story well by accepting where we are without judgment. Addiction is selfishness; recovery is selflessness. Hope is built on reaching out and being vulnerable.

“Find Joy in Your Life”

We choose each day either to take time to fan the embers of our hope, or we fade away and let our hope dissolve. Our greatest gift we have is the ability to choose our actions. Move forward from our failures, so we learn, grow, and improve. If you decide to be a victim of those failures, you will let those failures control you. We are bodies in motion; staying still is not an option. We will drift in one direction or another.

Fight to expand your hope within you. Even if you feel like you’re alone, there is purpose and design for your life to thrive and grow. You are enough to rebuild and find joy in your life once again. I am with you on your journey.

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