Posted by Romans 15:13 – 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.
This verse is the Gospel in a nutshell. Let’s take a moment to lean into it, and really unpack what it is saying to us today!
May the God of hope – God who is our Hope. God who gives a feeling of expectation, a notion of something better to come. This is a God who through Jesus has taken our desperation and lost-ness and turned it into assurance of a future. God – who has adopted us and given us an inheritance of life, not death.
It is THIS GOD, that will fill you with all joy and peace. He will fill you with a deep joy – contentment, delight, triumph, comfort and satisfaction. He will fill you with peace at the same time – a peace that deep in the heart, everything is ok, everything is in God’s hands. It’s a deep sense of order and union with God himself.
There is one condition to being filled with all joy and peace – and that is to trust in Him. Trust His promises. Rest in the assurance that He will bring this about. This inner confidence, faith, expectation and sole reliance on His providence. Trust His timing and His plan.
Why do we trust that the God of all hope will fill us with joy and peace?? So we will overflow, bubble over with hope. The hope that wells up inside of us will naturally bubble over and soak into the lives of those we do life with. So the very hope, expectation and confidence that God will pour into us, will be poured to overflowing with the sole job of trickling into others’ lives.
And how do we overflow with hope? All through the power of the Holy Spirit! The power of God himself within us, healing us, forgiving us, blessing and gifting us is what will make this all happen. So what is our part? To TRUST HIM. What is His part? He will fill us, with joy and peace, and His Holy Spirit so that we will bubble over and influence those around us. Our lives become a bubble of the Spirit of God – a vessel to sprinkle his goodness to those around us. Thank you Jesus! You do it all. You have done it all.
May you find joy and peace from God. May He fill you to overflowing, bubbling over for all to see, and be blessed by. Choose to seek Him first, trust Him and receive His joy, peace and hope.
Life by the Word 