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「May the God of hope fill you with all joyand peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the powerof the Holy Spirit.」
Ro.15:13
The apostle Paul encourages the Christiansin Rome to trust God because he is the God of hope. If they trust him, theywill be filled with joy and peace and have even more hope—hope to the point ofoverflowing.
Because the eternal God is the God of hope,our hope is both for the present and for the future. When we face trials inlife, we have a hope for the present circumstances because we know that God iswith us. Jesus himself understands our situation. He himself experience all ofthe difficulties that we are facing or will face. He was betrayed by a friend. He knew what itmeant to be misunderstood, even by his own family members. He was criticizedand despised. He was tempted and experienced hunger and pain. He knew grief atthe death of his close friend Lazarus. He was lonely and even totally abandonedby his father while on the cross. Asbelievers, we have a present hope that God will accompany us even in ourdarkest hour.
And our hope goes beyond the present. Weknow that God is preparing a bright and glorious future. Jesus told hisdisciples that he was going away to prepare a place for them and would one dayreturn to take them to be where he would be. The Bible says that the HolySpirit is the guarantee, the first installment of many more blessings to comewhen the Kingdom of God comes in all its fullness. We will receive a new body,a new home, and a face-to-face presence with the Lord Jesus for alleternity. When we have this hope of abetter future, it can carry us through the greatest of difficulties.
A story is told of two men, each about thesame age, each one imprisoned for more than 10 years. While in prison, each manregularly wrote letters to his wife on the outside. Both men were so encouraged by their wiveswho supported them, told them to serve out their time in prison, and then comehome again to normal life. Thinking about being reunited with their wives was areal sense of hope for both men. During the6th year of their time in prison, the wife of the 2nd man suddenly became verysick and died a few days later. Uponhearing of the news, the husband was devastated. Over the next several weeks, he became morewithdrawn, had no interest in eating anymore, and finally after 2 months wasfound dead in his cell. Seeing his wife again had been his hope for the future.With her now gone, there was no motivation to continue on. The first man lived out his sentence inprison, and finally when the day came, was released with great joy and wasreunited with his wife.
It is said that a person cannot livewithout food for more than a few months; cannot live without water for morethan a few days; cannot live without air for more than a few minutes; butcannot live without hope for more than a few seconds. When we have no hope, ourcircumstances seem overwhelming and we lose the desire to even live.
During this challenging time of the coronavirus pandemic, there is much to be anxious about. When will life return tonormal? When will I be able to normally visit with family and friends again?What about my job situation? When will the brothers and sisters again be ableto worship together in the church?
When God is our hope, we can overcome andrise above our circumstances because we have both a hope for the present andfor the future. The questions we havewill not make us anxious but rather we will be anchored by God’s peace and joy.And this hope in us becomes a testimony for others to see and experience. Justas the water in a cup affects what is outside the cup only when it overflowsout of the cup, so as Christians, our hope can overflow by the Holy Spirit tobring hope to others. May the Lord ofhope, give us joy and peace, producing hope to overflowing. AMEN.
Writer：George Veith