Nothing is ever as hopeless as it seems. If I had one thought I wanted to get across to you, how would I do it? I would probably say it and then repeat it again. So, here goes - "Nothing is ever as hopeless as it seems". If I wanted to help you three years from now or ten years from now, how could I do it? Perhaps by planting one good lifesaving sentence in your mind. Well, here goes. Nothing is ever as hopeless as it seems!

Things often seem hopeless because we can't see any way out of our problem. When we can't see any possible solution to our problem, it just means our eyesight is bad! Our range of vision is often limited.

A man, traveling across miles and miles of barren desert, ran out of gas. He hadn't seen even one car in two hours. Without gas, his air conditioner wouldn't work. In or out of the car, the heat would be unbearable. If he started walking, he would surely become dehydrated and collapse from heat exhaustion. He could see for miles, but as far as his eye could see, there was nothing or no one to help him.

As far as HIS eye could see! That's always the problem. It's what he couldn't see that was going to make a difference for him on this particular day. Beyond his range of vision and only six miles down the road, a shiny silver gasoline truck was rumbling his way. The odds of that happening are slim to none. But, nevertheless, it WAS HAPPENING! Six minutes later, his hopelessness vanished. A mere six minutes!

I know, every hopeless situation is not resolved in six minutes, but I just wanted to make a point.

Nothing is ever as hopeless as it seems!

A man was driving his car in the early morning darkness. He was sleepy and tired. A sharp curve caught him by surprise and he couldn't make the turn. His car skidded off the road and down a steep embankment. The man was pinned inside, unable to move at all. He was bleeding and in danger of bleeding to death. No cars were on the road at that hour. Even if there had of been, there was no sign of an accident on the roadway. It was impossible for anyone to know where he was. Everything looked hopeless. At least, that's the way it seemed to him.

But, even in a seemingly hopeless situation, you do what you can do and then hope for some help from beyond yourself. And that's what this guy did. He started hollering for help. Something inside of him said, "It's useless. Nobody can hear me." But, something within him made him keep trying.

Meanwhile, a mile away, in an old farmhouse - a lady was awakened by someone's call for help. She hurriedly dressed and went outside, but could hear nothing. She was already awake, so she put her dog on a leash and started her 'earlier than usual' morning walk.

A mile down the road, she heard a faint cry for help. But, there was no one or nothing around. The cries continued. They seemed to be coming from off the road somewhere. She inched her way to the edge of a steep drop off and looked down. There it was, an overturned car. It had been totally 'unseeable' from the roadway. No one would have ever stopped.

She scrambled down the embankment and found the man pinned in his car. The man was helpless. She felt helpless. But, the situation was not beyond hope. She clawed her way back up to the road and went for help. The man was saved by hope - a hope which caused him to holler for help even when he thought it wouldn't do any good.

Under normal circumstances, the man would have been right. But, who wants normal circumstances when you are about to die? Who can explain how that woman heard a cry for help one mile away? There are things beyond our understanding which can make a difference, if we will just hope and not depend entirely on our own understanding or how far we can see. If that man had given up hope, just because it seemed hopeless to cry out - he would have died.

When we think, "hopeless" we are usually thinking in terms of what we cannot do for ourselves. Our hopelessness gets stronger when we focus on the limitations of others and tell ourselves that they can't help either. But our brain does not know everything. Our knowledge and experiences in life are inadequate.

One man was pinned under his truck after the jack gave way. His son and his wife were in a helpless quandary about what to do. His chest was crushed. He couldn't breathe. He looked at the limitations of a frail woman and a mere lad. But, a neighbor man saw the situation and rushed to his aid. What good was that going to do? But, the neighbor was not operating on the way things seemed. He was motivated by desperation and without thinking, he grabbed the front of the truck and pulled up with all his might. As the front end went up in the air, he screamed, "Pull him out! Pull him out!" The wife was pushed into action and the man was pulled free before the neighbor had to drop the front end of the truck.

Nobody ever explained to those four people that the mind can pump out an abnormal amount of 'adrenalin' in times of imminent danger. That extra adrenalin often gives people 'superhuman strength' for a very short period of time. You see, the situation only seemed hopeless, based on the limited knowledge of those involved. Their past experiences could not have prepared them to hope in such a situation. But, we cannot lean to our own understanding or to our own limited experiences in the past. We must hope in some knowledge and abilities and powers which are beyond our line of reference.

Medical knowledge abounds in our generation. Doctors can do surgical procedures which were absolutely unthinkable ten years ago. New medicines are available to alleviate or cure hundreds of problems which were once considered to be 'hopeless situations'. And the majority of our present population are aware of only a mere fraction of the medical help that is available.

Even the most ignorant man on the block can tap into genius level medical knowledge, if he will just be willing to go see a family doctor. No, the family doctor does not have that 'genius level' expertise - but he may be aware of what others can do. He may have heard of the new 'miracle cure'. And one thing can lead to another until another hopeless case has been turned into a medical miracle.

Jake and Ralph were in a mine shaft when the ceiling caved in. When the dust and debris settled, Ralph was able to get up and move around. His headlamp had been crushed. He couldn't see a thing, but he heard Jake moaning and found him under a pile of rubble. He clawed at the rubble with his hands until they bled, but he uncovered most of the Jake's body. Only one problem. A big boulder still held Jake's legs captive.

Sure, he could run for help, but what if more of the ceiling gave way while he was gone? He wanted to help Jake now, but what could he do. He needed a light. He needed to see if he could find some kind of a tool to move that boulder. Talk about hopeless. These men couldn't even see each other. If life ever seemed dark for those guys, it really seemed dark now.

But, Ralph felt the budge of a candle in his pocket. It had miraculously stayed intact. The matches were there too. With just one ray of hope from a candle, Ralph walked those corridors of darkness until he found a crowbar that some miner had left behind. Hurrying to Jake's side, he pushed and pried until the boulder moved an inch and then two and three. Finally, Jake's legs were free.

But, hopelessness doesn't let go of it's victims very easily. Jake weighed 250 pounds and he couldn't walk and Ralph couldn't carry him. What were they to do? Ralph grabbed his candle of hope and set out looking for an empty coal car. Before long, he came back shouting and bringing his prized possession with him. Little by little, he pushed and shoved and finally heaved Jake's big body over the side of the car. It wasn't without pain for Jake, but at least it was a part of the solution.

The only reason some situations are hopeless is because the victims refuse to endure the pain, discomfort or cost of a remedy. The Teen Challenge Centers around the nation are able to boast an 85% cure rate for any alcoholic or drug addict who will enter and finish their program. I have reasoned and pled with many alcoholics to at least give it a try. But, each one of them, had some reason why they didn't want to go for the cure. They didn't have the guts to endure hardness and discomfort for one year, in order to be free for the rest of their lives.

Right now, one drug addict is waiting until we can complete the paperwork to get him into one of these centers. One year from now, he will walk out of that place a new man. His wife and two children will get their husband and father back. But, ten thousand drug addicts will still be addicted at this time next year - or dead. A million alcoholics will still be miserable and tormented a year from now - either because they didn't know about these centers - or because they refuse to believe the statistics or because they don't think it's worth the effort.

There is hope, but not for everyone. Hope is only there for those who reach for it, for those who desperately seek for it. Hope is there for those who don't mind a few hardships along the way. Hope is for those who hang on to patience while the answer is hindered or delayed. They hope and keep on hoping, no matter what.

The man in the mine needed an answer of steel. He could have thrown away the candle of hope because it was made out of wax - but he didn't. Wax can melt in a minute. It can be crushed without much effort. What good is wax in a time of trouble? A wick is nothing but a piece of string. String could never move a boulder - by itself. But, the wax and the string together - with a little hope and effort - produced the bar of steel which moved the mountainous obstacle from a helpless man's life.

Helpless and hopeless are not the same thing. Jake was helpless, but he was not without hope. He had a friend who had hope and hung onto it. His friend used what he had to find what he didn't have. Eventually, those two tired and bruised men came struggling out of that mineshaft. They broke forth into the brightest sunlight they had ever seen. They rejoiced with an exceptional joy that they had never felt in all their life. All because of the candle of hope which they refused to despise or throw away.

Now, what was it that I wanted you to remember? Oh yeah,