April 1992, hopelessness hit the headlines.
It grabbed the attention of the nation
as it drove angry, violent crowds into a
destructive rage on the streets of South
Central Los Angeles.
Businesses were burned. Stores looted.
Innocent bystanders were injured and even
killed as people who felt trapped by circumstances,
condemned to poverty and powerless
over their own futures, erupted in frustration.
As the startling scenes reached into living
rooms across this country by television,
people began to ask, “What can we do? These
people are hopeless! How can we change this
situation?”
Some answered by calling for more
government programs. Others cried out for
financial aid. Still others called for more
educational and employment opportunities.
But I can show you by the Word of God
that none of those things by themselves
would have solved the situation. They
wouldn’t have gone to the source of the
problem. In Ephesians 2:11-12, the Lord
reveals what that source is. Describing the
condition all of us were in before we were
born again, He says: “Wherefore remember,
that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh…
were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world.”
According to the Word of God, hopelessness
isn’t caused by lack of money. It isn’t
caused by lack of education or negative
circumstances. Hopelessness comes from
being without God in the world. It comes
from being a stranger to His covenant.
Anyone, anywhere can have hope if they
know Jesus and the covenant promises of God.
Your background, race or financial status
doesn’t matter. You can live in the worst ghetto
in the world and still have hope in God
because He isn’t limited by man’s resources.
He isn’t limited by man’s prejudices. God is
an equal opportunity employer!
Some people have said to me, “You
shouldn’t preach that prosperity message in
poverty-stricken areas. You’ll get those
peoples’ hopes up, and they don’t have the
same opportunity to prosper that you do.”
Yes they do!
I’ve seen God prosper people in places
where there was absolutely nothing. No food.
No jobs. No welfare program. Nothing!
There is one country in Africa where the
government wanted a tribe to die out so they
just stopped the flow of food and began to
starve them to death. But that plan failed
because some Holy Ghost-filled African
Christians refused to give up hope. They
knew their covenant, so they prayed “give us
this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Do
you know what happened? The people got
fed and the government went under!
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
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