Day 26, “The God of Hope,” is about finding joy, peace, and hope by trusting in God. Using Romans 15:13, the episode reminds listeners that God is not only the source of hope, but that He can fill us with peace and joy even when our circumstances are difficult. The episode reflects on how trusting God can bring a sense of calm even when we do not know what to do next. It encourages listeners to invite God into every decision—not only when they feel stuck, but also in the ordinary choices of everyday life. The more we rely on Him, the more we can experience the peace that comes from knowing we are not navigating life alone. The heart of the episode is that hope is something God wants to give us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can ask Him to renew our hope, especially when we feel discouraged or have forgotten how to hope. The encouragement is to keep turning to the God of hope and allow Him to fill you with the joy, peace, and confidence you need for whatever lies ahead. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Hope in the Waiting - Day 26 - The God of Hope
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.”
The God of hope- what a great way to refer to the Lord. He is the God of hope. All hope can be found in Him. I like the thought of God filling me with joy and peace as I trust in Him, don’t you? I feel as though that would be reassurance that we were doing the right thing. Actually, now that I just said that, I can see how this is the case. When we are trusting in the Lord, we are filled with peace and joy. Can you think of a time when you had a decision to make, and you felt completely at peace with it? Can you think of a time when you were so happy and filled with complete joy? Think about these circumstances. Can you see how you were trusting the Lord in them?
The second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021 were really tough on our family. Actually, they were tough on most families, as we were in the middle of a pandemic, and we were stuck in our houses for a lot of it. It was not an easy time for anyone. However, on top of all of this, we had a lot of other things going on that made it even more difficult. Probably some of the hardest parenting issues we will ever have to face, and we have faced a lot of parenting issues. Although it was a really difficult time, I was filled with joy and peace for much of that difficult time because I was trusting that the Lord knew what was best. We were encountering situation after situation that we had never encountered before. We didn’t know what to do or how to handle most of it. What do you do when you are in a situation and you don’t know what to do? You turn to the Lord. I spent a lot of time in prayer. I asked the Lord at every turn which way He wanted me to go. I relied on Him to get us through it. I am not saying this to boast about how great I am for turning to the Lord. I turned to Him because I did not know what else to do. This is usually why we turn to the Lord. When we have tried all we can think of on our own, and nothing worked.
However, I would love to change this. I would love to turn to God first in every circumstance, not just when I feel stuck and don’t know what to do. This is what the Lord wants too. He is always there for us, and He is happy when we turn to Him in times of trouble. However, I am sure He would also love it if we turned to Him in our everyday decision-making. Or, what about when you do know what you want to do? What about stopping to ask God what He thinks about you taking that job you want or buying that car you want? You may already know what you want to do, but what if we stopped to run it by the Lord and see if He thinks it’s a good idea? Sometimes our decisions can be clouded by superficial things, or we have the wrong motivation driving our decision-making, and we don’t realize it until it is too late. Invite the Lord into all your decisions. Wouldn’t it be great to feel that peace and joy of trusting the Lord all the time?
This verse ends with, “so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” I don’t know anyone who would turn down the chance to be overflowing with hope. This verse also tells us where hope comes from: the power of the Holy Spirit. If we want to have more hope, we just have to ask for it. Jesus tells His disciples in John 16:23-24, “ On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” If we want to have more hope in our lives, all we need to do is ask the Lord for it, and we will receive it by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you fill us all with joy and peace as we trust in you. We all want to overflow with hope; please show us how. Please fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit. Please help those who have given up on hope or have forgotten how to hope. We love you, Lord; you are so amazing. You give us so much to hope for. We are so grateful for all you do for us. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!