Hope
In light of the events of the last week in the North Okanagan, I (Jeremy) find it interesting that I felt led to speak on hope at the gathering in July and on being stable in unstable times in June. It is so amazing to see God’s hand on the teaching when we commit our ways and plans to Him. I love how intimately connected God is to His people when we are open to His activity in our lives. We talked about the incredible hope that we have in Jesus, both in this life and in the life to come in eternity and how those who choose to put their trust in Him have an uncanny ability to be hopeful even in the most challenging of circumstances.
That is an easy thing to hear when things are good, when circumstances are easy to process and walk through. But, when everything changes, when uncertainty comes and when things begin to move outside of our control, the question of where we place our hope comes to the forefront. Our hope is only as good as the one in whom we choose to entrust it. In Jesus we have a sure hope, one that is secure like an anchor in a storm (Hebrews 6:19). He is able to keep us from growing weary and faint (Isaiah 40:28-31). And because our hope is in Jesus, his death and resurrection, we are able to be saved through him (Romans 8:24).
The God that we trust in is known as the God of all hope. The apostle Paul in Romans 15:13 said, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” I love that it doesn’t say “may the God of all hope fill you with hope so that you can overflow with hope.” Paul’s prayer for the church in Rome—a very challenging place to be at the time—is that God would fill them joy and peace, so that they could overflow with hope, and that this filling would happen as they chose to put their trust in HIm! As we trust God, He meets us in the hopeless places where we often find ourselves lacking peace and joy. He starts in the place of lack, so that He can fill us to abundance, and that this abundance would be one of hope!!!
If you are struggling with hope right now, we encourage you to come to Jesus and invite His activity and presence in your life. Choose to try and trust God with a particular circumstance or for a specific moment in your day by asking Him to fill you with His peace and His joy. As He fills you up, may you find that your hope increases, perhaps even to a place of overflow. The filling part is for you and the overflow affects those around us!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
