Day Two:
Our God is a God of Hope!
What are two things that people in general are looking for? I think you could stop anyone on the street and they would tell you they want happiness. Or at least they would list something they think would make them happy. Another thing they might say is they wish people could all just get along. Is it safe to say that most people everywhere desire to have joy and peace?
Romans 5:13 says, “ Now may the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Hope is not something that we can produce on our own. However there is one, the maker of Heaven and Earth, that knit you together in your mother’s womb, who is in His very essence HOPE. It is easy when the sun is shining and all is right with our world for us to have joy and a peaceful spirit. The hard part comes when we are required to walk by faith and not by sight that all is well. We must fix our eyes on Jesus,who is the author, ( he began our faith) and the perfecter, ( he refines our faith) and believe that He is God, He is Good and He has good plans for us! It is in believing dear ones that He says we won’t just have hope. But we will abound in Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
You might say, but Tara I am having a hard time believing, nothing is going right for me and I don’t see His goodness. That beloved is why we walk together. There have been so many days this past year that I have felt that. I did not grow in peace by staying in that place though. When you are struggling don’t walk away. Turn your heart back to His Word and what He has to say to you through it. Let your mind be renewed to all that He is and all that He has for you. Grab a trusted friend and ask them to pray for you and speak truth to you. When storms come, and they will, we rise up together and we are able to Rejoice Always, that is when it becomes a “sacrifice of praise”. He is there beloved.
Today I am praying that for you and for me. I am praying that we believe and thereby abound in HOPE!