God of Hope

Romans 15:13 – “Now may the God of hope fill you with all the joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

The dictionary describes hope as a ‘feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen”. We hope we will pass that test; get that job; buy that car; don’t get sick, etc.  Things that we hope for have not happened yet, neither can we see them. “Hope fastens on future happiness, and waits for that.” (Matthew Henry). 

The Apostle Paul writes that “hope that is seen is not hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:24-25). 

And why do we need hope? Because “in this hope ‘we’ were saved”. (Romans 8:24a). The God of hope saved us – and we ‘the gentiles’, will hope in Him. (Romans 15:12b).  

When we feel discouraged, His hope renews us, encourages us to move forward, to continue to press on, to not give up.  His hope fills us up, and it overflows on us and through us; His hope is necessary for us to be encouraged and to encourage others.  We must represent the hope of Christ. “Christ in us is the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27b). 

And what do we hope in? We hope in God’s truth, we hope in the future He has in store for us; we hope in salvation for all mankind, beginning with our families and loves ones; we hope in heaven to come soon; we hope for peace; we hope for love; we hope for eternity with our Lord and Savior. 

Thank you Jesus, for being our God of Hope. Amen!