When Hope Seems Lost

Tikkun Global

Jerusalem, Israel

There are moments in Scripture — and in our own lives — when everything appears to be collapsing. Promises seem lost. Hope feels irrational. Faith is stretched beyond logic. And yet, when we look closely at God’s story, we discover a striking pattern: the moment that looks like the end is often the moment just before God’s greatest breakthrough.

One of the earliest and most powerful examples is the story of Abraham and his son Isaac. In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice — the very son through whom God had promised to establish His covenant (Genesis 17:19; 21:12). From a human perspective, this command contradicted everything God had spoken before.

And yet Abraham obeyed.

The New Testament gives us insight into what was happening inside Abraham’s heart. Hebrews 11:17–19 explains that Abraham believed God could even raise Isaac from the dead. This is astonishing faith. At that point in biblical history, there was no recorded resurrection. No precedent. No testimony to rely on. Abraham trusted God beyond experience, beyond logic, beyond understanding.

At the very moment when it seemed Abraham was about to lose everything, God intervened (Genesis 22:11–14). Isaac was spared, and God reaffirmed His covenant blessing (Genesis 22:15–18). What appeared to be the end became the gateway to greater promise.

This pattern reaches its ultimate expression in the crucifixion of Yeshua. From the disciples’ perspective, the cross was total disaster. Their Messiah was dead. Hope was gone. Everything they believed had collapsed in a single afternoon (Luke 24:17–21). Even the powers of darkness believed they had won (Luke 22:53).

But heaven was telling a different story.

On the third day, Yeshua rose from the dead (Luke 24:6–7). What looked like defeat became the greatest victory in human history. Through His resurrection came forgiveness of sins (Romans 4:25), reconciliation with God (2 Corinthians 5:18–19), and true freedom for humanity (John 8:36). The cross was not the end — it was the doorway.

Scripture also points us forward to a future moment that follows the same pattern. In Zechariah 12–14, we read of a time when all nations come against Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2–3; 14:2). The city is attacked. Captivity and devastation follow. Everything appears lost.

And then — at the darkest moment — the Lord Himself intervenes. Yeshua appears, stands on the Mount of Olives, and fights against the nations that came against Israel (Zechariah 14:3–4). Deliverance comes both physically and spiritually, fulfilling the promise of Romans 11:26: “All Israel will be saved.” What looked like total destruction becomes national and spiritual redemption.

This is not only biblical history — it speaks powerfully to our present moment.

We are living in days of distress. We see injustice, oppression, and suffering across the world. It may feel as though darkness is advancing and hope is fading. And sometimes, things do get worse — before they get better.

But Scripture teaches us this truth again and again: God often does His greatest work at the point where all human hope seems exhausted (Psalm 46:1; Isaiah 60:1–2).

If you are facing personal crisis, or watching the world unravel and wondering where God is — take heart. The moment that feels like the end may be the moment God is preparing His greatest breakthrough.

Hold on.

Because in God’s story, when hope seems lost, glory is often closer than we think.