Attack against Hope: Isolation

There is a corporate attack leveled at the Body of Christ right now of hopelessness and despair. This comes in on individuals in a way that makes them think they are the only ones feeling this way. Thoughts of rejection, isolation, and loneliness keep people from reaching out to express what is happening in their lives.

We must realize that this is a ploy of the enemy to isolate, accuse, and divide individuals from the fellowship of believers. If the enemy causes each of us to think that something is wrong with us and maybe we do not belong, then we will not reach out to other people in the body. However, when we do, we will find that those other people are feeling exactly the same way about themselves. If we start talking, we realize that those feelings of rejection, isolation, shame, and loneliness are traps from hell that are set to keep us from entering into fellowship with other believers.

Hopelessness and despair are meant to isolate us. However, we have a blessed hope—Christ in us the Hope of Glory! (Col. 1:27) He is our comforter who is our friend through the good times and the bad times.

He is also the “spirit of adoption” that has made us accepted in the Beloved, which is Himself together with the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:5-6).

Also, Christ’s finished work on the Christ is the hope that was and still is. His precious blood allows us to enter before the throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16).

Because of this finished work of the Cross, the writer of Hebrews says, “Let us draw near with full assurance of the faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our Hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful…” (Heb. 10:22-23)

Here, the writer is saying we must HOLD FAST to the confession of our Hope. Then as humans, we think, “I don’t have any hope…” But if we continue reading the sentence, we discover the source of our strength to hold onto Hope. We hold onto our Hope, because HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL. In order for us to hold onto Hope, we must focus on the faithfulness of God. It is this attribute of God that will strengthen us to hold fast to the confession of our hope.

Secondly, the writer of Hebrews goes on in verses 24-25 to admonish us concerning holding on to our hope. He then says “consider one another,” and “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” and “exhorting one another as you see the Day approaching…”

As the author admonishes us to hold onto to our Hope, he first points out the basis we stand on—washed in the cleansing blood of Jesus. Then, he tells us the attribute of God to feed our Spirit with—He who promised is faithful. Lastly, he warns us from the attack of the enemy that comes to keep us in hopelessness—isolation from the Body of Christ.

It is time that we realize the struggles of hopelessness and despair are against the individual to isolate them from the Body, but the attack is corporate. We must join together and strengthen one another, exhort one another, and restore Hope to each other—even more as we see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:25).