Hope Filled

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

Paul’s prayer may be short, but packs a punch and says everything any believer could ever want and is very applicable even today.  I have been overwhelmed with unexplainable peace when in all reality I should have been terrified, but because I trusted in Him, he filled me up with peace and hope during a difficult storm.  Perfect peace and joy can only come to believers who trust in God no matter what.  He not only meets us, but will fill us with so much hope through the Holy Spirit that we are overflowing – overflowing to touch others and overflowing to bring glory to Him when others are baffled by the grace in which you handle difficult circumstances.  Life isn’t a bed of roses all of the time and you will find yourself in a place of total devastation at least once in your life.  Where will your help come from?  Some days you may be barely able to move.  A dear friend of mine just lost their 18 year old son in a tragic freak water accident this past 4th of July on a family vacation.  They can barely move right now, barely speak, but they find hope, even if it’s just a spark at a time, in the fellowship of their believing friends and their trust in the Holy Spirit to meet them where they are and the promise that one day they will see their son again.  This world doesn’t offer much in the way of hope.  Sure, it offers many outlets and substances to cope, but not any outlet that is lasting.  Trusting in ourselves surely doesn’t get us that far and so hopelessness can swallow us up if we let it.  Let us turn to God.  Let us trust in him even if we don’t understand.  God is the giver of true hope and can fill you up. ~ Amen