Abounding Hope

 Now may the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. [Rom 15:13] NASU

God has many titles. Add to that list that He is the God of hope. In this crazy upside-down world, He is still not a god of hope. He is THE GOD OF HOPE. Hope is the expectation of good. The anticipation of something pleasurable. Like a dealer passing out cards in a card game of spades, God deals out hope to people who need it. Even in the most horrific circumstances God still gives hope. He makes us full of hope. 

Maybe that hope is eternal life. Maybe things never get easier or much better here. For the Christian we always have the hope of Heaven. That is especially true for Jesus followers in persecuted countries. Those believers may experience physical torture, incarceration, and even death. How do they maintain hope in such horrendous circumstances. They think of the afterlife. They remind themselves that their momentary afflictions and sufferings cannot compare to what awaits in eternity. So, they press on in hope. 

God wants to fill people with joy and peace. Joy is gladness and cheerfulness that defies circumstances. I have seen people in heart wrenching grief still choose joy. Peace is a tranquil state of the soul and mind. Again, it doesn't matter what the circumstances are. God can still give us the peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds. [Phil 4:7]. 

In some ways this seems to defy logic. How can it be expected that people who are in hot messes just be filled with joy and peace, but to actually abound in joy. That means that they overflow and superabundant gladness. That is not natural. In fact, it is supernatural. Most of our attitudes are dictated by our current circumstances. When things are good our attitudes are good in return. On the other hand, when things go south our attitudes can sour as well. 

Let me remind you that Paul is writing [Romans 15:13] in adverse circumstances. Much of Paul's ministry was one of persecution, imprisonments, and constant travel getting run out of more than one town. Yet he could still find joy, peace, and hope in the Lord. His circumstances were certainly not pleasurable. The Lord was and he found delight and gladness in Jesus. An abounding joy. Excessive delight. Abounding hope. 

I have seen this with my own eyes on many occasions. I have seen people living with chronic disease abounding in joy and hope. It was not logical. It did not compute rationally for a person to live in constant pain and still abound in joy and hope when expectations were that the next day would be just as painful as the current day. I have also read about such people. These people abounded in hope. 

I have stood next to bedsides with deceased loved ones and heard abounding hope flow from grieving lips like water flows in a stream. I have watched people face financial ruin and still overflow in hope for the future. I have seen aging pastors lose spouse and children left to muddle through their last days alone still abound in the hope of the Lord. 

This defies logic. It is not the natural order of things. When people suffer the natural thing to do is to downgrade into despair and sink into sullenness. The Holy Spirit supernaturally empowers abounding hope. That is why the person who has tried with all their might to succeed, and they keep losing do not give up. They abound in hope. They get up and dust themselves off with resolve and try again. That is why the servant of the Lord who keeps getting denied in prayer with delayed answers keeps abounding in hope that the answer will come eventually. They keep asking, seeking, and knocking. [Matt 7:7-8] The Holy Spirit produces and sustains this abounding hope. 

That is how we should approach the day. Abounding with hope. Hope that God is faithfully working His will all over the world. Hope that God knows the future and sees everything we will go through. Hope that He will strengthen us to get through the tough times. Hope that we are one day closer to the rapture of the saints. May the Spirit of God produce abounding and enduring hope in all of us until we finally get home to heaven.