My God is an awesome God. He has so many magnificent attributes. One of these is Hope. God tells us that if we trust and believe in Him, we will overflow with hope,
“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)
Regular, ordinary hope is when we express uncertainty, like a “keep your fingers-crossed” type of hope. Biblical hope is different. Biblical hope is not just desiring something good, it is a confident expectation that something good will happen in the future. We don’t just expect it to happen, but we are confident that it will happen. Hope is a strong confidence, not just wishful thinking. Biblical hope looks to the promises of God, not of man.
Have you ever met someone who seemed hopeless? That person that keeps doing the same wrong thing over and over again, never changing, never getting better? You say to yourself, “What can we do, they are hopeless!” How is it possible to go from hopelessness to overflowing with hope? The answer is in Romans 15:13, “…by the power of the Holy Spirit.” If we only had one word to describe the Holy Spirit that word would be power! All things are possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus have us His Spirit to strengthen us, guide us and comfort us.
God is good to those who keep their hope in Him and wait with confident expectation,
“The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him. It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25,26)
Hope is a type of emotional strength I can draw on when I need it. For example, if someone puts me down or criticizes me, I can draw on that emotional strength of hope to return evil with good. Without the power of the Holy Spirit I would sink into self pity or return insult for insult. Hope gives me strength to not give up and keep going. Hope gives me the strength to turn from temptation and not give in to the lies of the enemy.
I was one of those people who were hopeless. From my inner core, I believed there was no hope for me to get well, because no matter how many times I tried to get well, I could never stay clean and sober. It is only by God’s grace and incredible mercy that I am sitting here today to tell you–there is hope! Don’t give up, no matter what. If you fail 1000 times, just keep trying, don’t quit on yourself. It was that 1001 time that I finally succeeded and so can you! My God is a God of hope. He loves us beyond measure and will pull us up out of any pit we find ourselves in.