Why is there so much depression and hopelessness in our world?
Young adults often have a more positive outlook on life, perhaps because they have not lived for a long time. And yet, some young people have lived long enough to experience obstacles and frustrations. ‘Life’ doesn’t just hand you your dreams. And for some, the old sayings about hard work and dedication do not seem to ring true. So, some young people join others in hopelessness not seeing a way out of their present circumstances.
After Joseph had been elevated to a position second only to the Pharaoh of Egypt, he eventually was able to bring his family to Egypt to escape a widespread famine. Joseph presented his father Jacob to the Pharaoh, who then described himself in a peculiar way. Jacob said his 130 years were “few and unpleasant,” not attaining to the length of years of his forefathers. He described himself as a sojourner, one who was merely a visitor in the land of Canaan.
We know Jacob as one of the three great patriarchs who received promises from God. And yet, Jacob was a deceiver and had to live with the guilt of deceiving his brother and his father. He went to his mother’s relatives to find a wife and agreed to work seven years in order to marry his chosen bride. Then he was tricked into working seven more years. At the end of fourteen years, he agreed to work six more years in order to build up his own livestock but was treated deceitfully by his father-in-law. God blessed him but his 20 years away from his family was filled with hard work and deceit against him.
Jacob’s sons were nothing to brag about. Out of jealousy they sold their youngest brother, Joseph, to a caravan of traders. Jacob thought he was dead. His beloved Rachel, the mother of Joseph, bore another son, but died in childbirth. Two of his sons followed in their father’s footsteps of deceit when their sister was raped. Their deception was part of a plan of revenge. Another son had an immoral relationship with one of the handmaidens who bore sons to Jacob. Some of his grandsons were so evil that God struck them dead.
Jacob is more often remembered as a man of faith who had received the promises from God like his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham: land, nation, future blessing for all mankind. But in the daily grind of life, he saw none of these promises fulfilled. He even left behind the land his descendants were promised to inherit.
Some have said that Jacob’s description of himself was more out of respect to the king of Egypt. (He did not want to appear prideful.) And yet, Jacob had good reason to describe his life as unpleasant. But was he hopeless? When you read the blessings that he proclaimed to his sons you cannot help but see hope!
How could Jacob carry guilt, encounter life’s obstacles and endure difficult family issues and still possess hope?
People who have their eyes focused on themselves are prone to fall into hopelessness. They focus on their problems in relation to themselves.
Throughout his life Jacob followed God’s lead. He left the land of Canaan with God’s blessing. He later returned with God’s blessing. He went to Egypt with God’s blessing. His eyes were always focused on God and His promises.
Hopelessness is rooted in self and the perceived obstacles, insecurities and injustices in life. Hope, however, looks beyond oneself and the difficulties of life to the promises that God has given. Hope is akin to the beatitudes, not because one lives in bliss in the present, but because God has made promises. God is trustworthy to the degree that we can embrace his promises as if already fulfilled. Knowing then that God is faithful, hope is real.
Those who are in Christ possess hope!
Mark Stinnett
November 8, 2026
