I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
—Romans 15:13 (NLT)
We live in a world where peace is defined by how we feel instead of what we know as truth. Nothing the media tells you—nothing statistics declare, imparts hope. When the world offers hope, that hope is circumstantial. Our hope does not depend on what happens. Our hope is eternal and comes from faith in Jesus Christ. It is evidence of what can’t be seen.
When faced with hardship and pain, life is hard, and hope is sometimes difficult to find. When hope is lost, joy and peace are gone. You may try to stir up hope, but you soon discover you can never stir up hope that lasts. The only hope that lasts comes from God, who is the source of real hope.
When we trust God, He fills us with His hope and not the facsimile we try to work up in our minds. Trust grows when we spend time with Him, and seek to understand who He is and who He says we are. His Word is truth. It is our way to know Him intimately. When we allow His Word to transform our minds, then life with its problems, instead of robbing us of hope, encourages us that He always has something better for us. He has a plan. He has a purpose.
His Word promises that if we follow Him instead of going our own way—if we hold on and not give up—then we receive His promise. Understanding His truth encourages the hope He renders. And with that hope, trust sprouts deeper roots. With trust in Him, peace and joy rise to carry us safely through what otherwise could destroy us. Confidence gains ground, and it overflows in our lives flowing into the lives of others who are hungry for peace.
When Paul prayed this prayer for the Romans, he prayed through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit persistently seeks to pray from within our discouraged hearts. He continually offers the promise of His hope by trusting Him. When trust in Him claims us in these hard times, we overflow with confident faith that never fails but always believes in His promise.
“Our present troubles are small and won’t last very long,” Paul writes, “yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever" (2 Corinthians 4:17, NLT). Look for things that are unseen. They are eternal. The things we see now won’t last. Don’t dwell on them. God has given you His spiritual vision—to see with His eyes. Exercise what you have and allow Him to strengthen your faith.
"So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord," the author of Hebrews imparts. "Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised" (Hebrews 10:35-36, NLT).
Believe, my friend, in His promise. He will never fail you. God is your confident hope.
© 2020 Lynn Lacher
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