“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” – Romans 15.13.
It is so easy to slip into a negative mind set.
We look around us and see the news stories, hear a friend’s plight, view tension or grief in others and it is a simple thing to forget that there is hope.
Now this hope is not in the sense of ‘hoping’ the thing will get better. It is the hope founded on the surety that there is a God who will, one day, right every wrong and can, right now, cause us to be full of “peace and joy in believing”.
- In believing in Him,
- In believing all He says about Himself (like everything He says about Himself in this scripture),
- In believing there is a future where He will wipe away every tear…
Once we get to this point, Holy Spirit takes us further by then giving us “ABOUNDING hope” – a hope that over flows; a hope that helps other to truly hope and not just wish that things were better or wish for ‘the good old days’ (which were the same as today, just with different issues).
Until then, WE have a mandate to wipe eyes and bring hope and display the God of all hope.
Father, help us to allow you to cause us to be full of peace and joy even as we see the realities around us. That you, through Your Holy Spirit, would help hope to ABOUND in us so that it wouldn’t just leak from us, but pour from our very beings. May you comfort Your people and keep us from despair and self-pity. We hope in You Lord. For Jesus’ name’s sake, So be it.
[Ps 37.7]