Abounding In Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13

What does it mean to be filled with all joy and peace in believing? Have you ever considered God “the God of hope”? Do you abound in hope? Have you met anyone who abounds in hope? How do they live?

This story was sent to me:
A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trip to school.
As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child. Following the roar of thunder, lightning, like a flaming sword would cut through the sky.
Full of concern, the mother quickly got in her car and drove along the route to her child's school.
As she did so, she saw her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile. Another and another were to follow quickly, each with the little girl stopping, looking up and smiling.
Finally, the mother called over to her child and asked, "What are you doing?" The child answered, "Smiling, God just keeps taking pictures of me."

And maybe that is an image of abounding in hope, yes maybe that is being filled with joy and peace. Knowing that God cares about us so much that God would never abandon us, and looking at fear in the face and smiling. Smiling because God is with us then too, and we aren’t alone. An old English proverb says it best, “Fear knocked on the door and faith answered. No one was there.” Today let us pray that the God of hope may fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that not only we will not fear, but also that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s a good way to be.

With hope and joy,
Garrett