Abound in Hope

 February 10, 2024

Saturday

Romans 15:13 (NASB 2020) 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Life can beat on you until you are numb. You become like a boxer who can no longer block the relentless blows, so he just takes it. For those on the outside, it appears that he no longer feels them. There was a time when referees didn’t step in to defend the defenseless boxer. They just kept taking in the hits until they finally fell down. These boxers were standing on willpower, not on consciousness. They had been knocked out several moments before. The last command the legs got was to stand, so they stood.

Each of us has gone through a time when several bad things happened at once. We may even have caused some or all of them. It seems like we can’t catch our breaths. One blow after another comes. This is when many people become hopeless. They have no hope left. The diagnosis was devastating, the chemo and radiation were exhausting and with no energy or emotion left  we wake up to a new day to have the same things happen again. Who can blame a person who has gone through this for being hopeless.

Hopelessness is natural when things go so wrong but it does not need to be inevitable. Those who know Jesus know the God of hope. He is the One who will fill the otherwise hopeless with joy and peace. Hope abounds when joy and peace prevail. This comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The scripture above is a prayer. It is said by Paul for people he has never met. He knows what is going on. He knows they could find themselves in hopelessness. He prays that they will be filled with joy and peace in believing. This comes as a Christian puts his or her feet on the ground again. The Christian remembers the foundation of faith. The Christian remembers the love of Jesus and what He has done. And by the power of the Holy Spirit in each Christian abounds in hope when there was no natural hope left.

Is this a prayer you need to say for someone you know today? Is this a prayer you need to say for yourself. Do you need to say, “Lord, things are going so bad I don’t have any hope left. I remember that Jesus loves me. I remember that there is no greater love than the love He has for me. I know You know where I am and what I am going through. Let me abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit?”

Pray that prayer for someone or even for yourself for God is truly the God of hope.