The God of Hope

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Romans 15:13

The God of Israel is the God of patience, comfort and hope.  All who are born again by faith in Jesus are ushered into all joy and peace in believing, to the end we would abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This hope is an expectation, strong confidence God will make good on His promises to us.  As partakers of the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus, the Spirit produces good spiritual fruit in and through our lives.

When we speak of joy, peace and hope, often our experience of them is filtered by how we are feeling rather than by what Jesus has accomplished and promised.  While it is true joy, peace and confidence are connected with our feelings, it would be a mistake to make our feelings the measure of what Jesus has created us to be.  Happiness depends on what happens, yet Jesus promises fullness of joy to all His disciples regardless of our circumstances.  When I hear people say they "have a peace" about something, it seems to be more in reference to a feeling than their righteous standing with God that is not based upon works we have done or could ever do.  "Hope" from a worldly standpoint can mean more a wish or longing than a reality based upon Christ's resurrection and confidence His life is being lived out through us.

God's word works to change the way we think, and the positive knock-on effect is it begins to change the way we live, speak and feel.  This walk with Jesus is not embraced by denying or stuffing our bad feelings but to respond to those same feelings by holding fast to the truth revealed in the Scripture.  When we feel hopeless, we can be strengthened in God by the patience and comfort of the Bible.  Even as our stores of physical energy are consumed by activity, so our fill of all joy, peace and hope is impacted by the things we focus on.  Should we find ourselves lacking the fruit of the Holy Spirit, it is likely to some degree we have given place to unbelief that refuses to appropriate the joy provided for us in Jesus.  Like Peter who began to sink in the Sea of Galilee when he fearfully eyed the waves that looked to swallow him, we too can be distracted seeking help from our risen Saviour.  To his credit Peter cried out to Jesus for salvation and in doing so provided an example for us to follow.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, dear reader, not so you can avoid negative feelings or feel happy for a change, but for a far better reason:  that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We can have total confidence and assurance of salvation by faith in Jesus, and this means God will be faithful to deliver us from all troubles and tribulations in this life.  It is silly we can entrust God to save us for all eternity, yet at the same time we can justify feeling hopeless about problems we currently face.  We have peace with God, the peace of God and peace from God in unity with Him and other Christians:  isn't that comforting to know?  Aren't you glad we have a Saviour who provides abundant life with a living hope that does not fade away?  Our beauty and strength fades, but the love and light of Jesus Christ shines ever brighter in the darkness.