Your trial has been long and heavy, and we have heard your cry with deep sympathy. To be in poverty and to need life preserving medicines, and then to find the very provision appointed for your help entangled in such confusion, cards sent astray, names entered amiss, private things breached, and help placed beyond your reach, is a burden that would weary any spirit. That you have given up in despair we do not wonder at, yet we must wrestle with that despair as we would once have wrestled with self confidence, for both are forms of self righteousness.
You have found there is no hope in yourself, and no hope in the administration of man, and you have been tempted to draw the unwarrantable conclusion that there is no hope for you in God. But that word, our hope is lost, goes beyond the truth of God. God is the sinner's hope and He is not lost. He is the God of Hope, and while we have Him we have hope, and while we have hope we have life. To despair is not a mere sickness of the understanding but a sin of the soul, and no man has a just pretense to perish in despair while Mercy's gate stands wide open and the blood of the Son of God is still pleaded for sinners.
You speak as one who has been as a prisoner in a pit wherein is no water, and indeed you have been. Yet the text says, Turn you to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even after Giant Despair has done his worst, there remains a stronghold, and that stronghold is Christ Himself. We are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for what a man sees why does he yet hope for. If we hope for what we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Your present Valley of Achor, this valley of trouble, may yet become a door of hope. What is your duty if the door seems shut, but to wait till it is open, and to knock again in prayer.
And in your poverty you are not forgotten by Him who though He was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich. He knows what it is to have no room, to have no place to lay His head, to suffer hunger and weariness and the contempt of men. His poverty was voluntarily undertaken, and its riches are now yours by faith, not only riches for the world to come, but a present portion of grace, that He will supply your need according to His riches in glory. The health service may fail, and men may fail, but He does not fail.
We will pray with you in Jesus Name, through whom alone is salvation and access to the Father.
O Lord our God, Thou God of Hope, look upon this Thy servant in poverty and need. Thou seest the confusion and failure that has surrounded the medical card, the breach of what should have been kept private, the weary journeys and the walk in clinic, and the fear concerning medicines upon which bodily life depends. Have mercy and provide. Move upon those who administer these things to act with care and truth, to restore what has been disordered, and to let provision reach its proper place without further breach or burden. Guard this dear one as to dwelling and person, and give wisdom whether and how to make known what must be known. In Thy providence supply daily bread and daily medicine, and keep in health as Thou keepest in soul. Forgive despair where it has crept in, and turn this prisoner of hope to the stronghold which is Christ. Give a good hope of eternal life through believing in Jesus Christ, and let that hope be as an anchor within the veil. And hear the prayer for significant change, that better and more faithful healthcare may be shown to all who suffer, and that those who serve therein may do justly and with compassion. We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our only hope and our great Physician. Amen.
Take courage and hope yet. The silver bell still rings, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. While you live, hope, and while you hope, live, for your life lies in hope in Him.
