Romans 15:13
13 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.
The world in desperate need of hope.Worldly hope rests upon circumstances. These can change and take away people’s hope. Hope is inspired. It is not a natural impulse. Paul’s simple prayer gives us the source of hope that cannot be taken away.
1. May the God of hope
Hope only has meaning when the situation in the present could improve. God is the author and source of hope.
1 Corinthians 13:13 then adds: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them. ~ Clare Boothe Luce.
Hebrews 10:23 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
2. fill you with all joy and peace
These are two of the first fruits of the Spirit.
Fill: God does not want us to experience his grace in small parts but in all of its awesomeness. God gives enough to fill us up.
Ephesians 3:20-21:
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Puts the rest of life in a different perspective.
John 17:13: “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them
Acts 13:52 “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
Philippians 4:6-7”
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
3. as you trust in him,
Literally, this is “in the believing.” Faith involves trusting in God. Joy and peace come in the act of believing. They do not happen accidentally but on purpose.
4. so that you may overflow with hope
This is the purpose of joy and peace. God is the source of our hope.
5. by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is the resource to make all this happen.
Rom 5: 5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Psalms 42:11:
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
In recounting his experiences as a political prisoner in Russia, Alexander Solzhenitsyn tells of a moment when he was on the verge of giving up all hope. He was forced to work 12 hours a day at hard labor while existing on a starvation diet, and he had become gravely ill. The doctors were predicting his death. One afternoon, while shoveling sand under a blazing sun, he simply stopped working. He did so even though he knew the guards would beat him severely — perhaps to death. But he felt that he just couldn’t go on. Then he saw another prisoner, a fellow Christian, moving toward him cautiously. With his cane the man quickly drew a cross in the sand and erased it. In that brief moment, Solzhenitsyn felt all of the hope of the gospel flood through his soul. It gave him courage to endure that difficult day and the months of imprisonment that followed.
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