Abound in Hope by The Power of The Holy Spirit

 

“In hope he believed against all hope, that he should become the father of many nations.” (Romans 4:18)

 

Hope, the Greek word elpis, is an expectation of what is sure.  It is a trust that underlies one's behaviors and decisions.   Abraham hoped and believed God, and his decisions reflected this by coming into the land of Canaan.

 

Jacob also had this hope. As he blessed Joseph, he blessed him in the name of the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, who walked with him, the God who was his shepherd all his life long.

 

This was the hope that Jacob carried, knowing God was with him—now and into eternity.  He went through incredible difficulty, had to run from his brother, live with his uncle who swindled him at every turn, worked 14 years for the love of his life, then lost her in childbirth, and lost one of his two boys from her to what he thought was death.

 

Yet through it all, he had hope because he knew God was with him.  God kept making himself evident in his circumstances.  Even though he had incredibly tough circumstances, and his emotions reeled at times, he dwelled in hope. 

 

Years later, David carried this same hope.  He says about the Lord: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope, because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.”

 

Paul told king Agrippa that is was because the hope he carried that he was being persecuted.  Even when he was beaten with rods and put in prison, and in stocks, he praised the Lord as Paul had hope. 

 

In times of difficulty and anguish, hope upholds us as we hold hope.  It reminds us that all is not lost.  No matter what difficulty we experience, we know in our hearts that God loves us, upholds us and will carry us through into this eternal life where every tear we ever cried will be wiped away.

 

There was a time in my life that I was hopeless.  I thought life was not worth living.  By the time I was thirteen, I had made a pact with death.  I never planned to live past my eighteenth birthday.  I thought about death many times a day.

Before I knew the Lord, I had struggles with depression in my life.  I would see these people who had a glow, and I desired this for myself.   I longed for a glow but thought my situation was totally hopeless.  I thought the people with a glow were the fortunate few with an incredibly healthy and loving family growing up and doing exceptionally well. 
Then, one day, I ran into his woman with this incredible glow about her and she talked to me about Jesus. I didn’t really understand a thing she said as she talked about “holy rollers” at her church, but her glow drew me in. Later, as a new believer, I came to church and found this same hope-filled life available to me. It was amazing to discover I could have it as well.

She sowed a seed of hope that led me to know the God of all hope. One thing people need today is hope. So many people are hurting with tough things going on in their lives. This hope shines through every difficult situation, saying there is goodness right around the corner.

This incredible gift of hope helps us see the brightness of God in every circumstance, making our face glow with the radiance of His presence.  It makes even the darkest circumstances be put into eternal perspective. 

Paul tells us in 13:13 that faith, hope, and love are the three Christian virtues we take to heaven.  We have this hope as an anchor for our souls.  It keeps us encouraged, grounded, and secure—even in our greatest difficulty.

Hope fulfilled is a tree of life. When goodness comes around the bend, it brings us such joy.  It reminds us that God is just that good.  And our testimonies of His goodness meeting us in a dark or stuck place, not only feeds us, it is fruit for all who are around us. 

Sometimes, when life is incredibly difficult, we have to grab hold of hope and hold on with all our might.  I have seen this hope at work recently, strengthening a friend who lost her daughter to a fentanyl overdose and left four children behind. I have also had to hold onto it tightly as my closest friend is battling an aggressive cancer.

While it is not tangible, it is available and will steady us in the greatest difficulty. Many who seek prayer are looking for and need this hope. They have difficult circumstances going on in their lives and need something to hold onto.

We share this hope as we encourage and pray for those hurting. Through Christ in us, we have the power to literally shift a situation from hopeless to hopeful. The glow of His glory for holding hope radiates out of us and draws folks to come up for prayer so they can be filled with this hope.

 

It is a way to bring His goodness piercing through difficulty.  When John was beginning to lose hope as he was soon going to be killed, Jesus gave him hope by saying, go tell him what you see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. 

 

These are testimonies of hopeless situations being turned around for good.  In every circumstance, God can bend it and bring hope.  It may not be how we specifically were thinking, as He does not seek just to make our lives easy. 

 

One friend I have with Cerebral Palsy was hoping for God to suddenly heal her completely.  But what He did, was heal her over time and still left her with a limp.  But it was this very struggle and the limp that later became her ministry as she wrote a book, Walking with Tension, about how God can use our difficult circumstances.

 

In the Bible, when his circumstances caused him to feel downcast, David spoke hope into his own soul. He told his soul that it was not hopeless and to hope in God. During difficulty and running from Saul, he learned how to strengthen himself in the Lord so he didn’t become despondent.

 

We need hope for ourselves. As we let it fill us, we can then bring hope to others. 

 

There are times and seasons of great difficulty. In Egypt, there was a terrible spirit that came upon the Egyptians because of the gods they worshipped.  Suddenly, they were oppressing the Israelites to the extent of killing all the male babies and putting all the Israelis into hard slave labor.   There was another time when Jesus was born when all children under the age of two were slaughtered.   Yet, in both these times, God heard the cries of His people and brought immeasurable power to overcome the enemy. 

 

We can be certain that whatever we face, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord raises a standard against him and put him to flight.   We are never without help.  But more than this, we are never without the strength and ability to help others in their plight.
It is not in our own strength that we are filled with hope in impossible situations. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is through this power that Abraham hoped to be the father of nations. It is by this power, that the Israelites believed that God would free them from their hopeless situation. It was by this power of hope that we receive Jesus as our Savior and walk by faith. 

 

Lord Jesus, fill us with a fresh sense of your hope.  Wherever we see something as hopeless, turn our thinking around and help us to see it from your eyes.  Let us see with your perspective with great anticipation for your goodness to meet us in it.