Abound in hope


God is a God of hope. He gives hope to His loved ones (see 2 Thessalonians 2:16), and He wants you to abound in hope.

Romans 15:13 says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The word ‘hope’ mentioned above is ‘elpis’ in Greek. It is from the primary word ‘elpō’, which means ‘to anticipate (usually with pleasure); expectation or confidence.’

You see, the ‘hope’ you have in God is not a casual, vague, or blank hope. It is a confident hope. When you hope in God, you anticipate and expect it (i.e. what you hope for) to come to pass with divine assurance from Him.

How to have that confident hope in God? In believing! (see Romans 15:13) It is written in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Your faith, belief, and trust in God are the substance for the things you hope for!

Remember Moses in Exodus 2 when he was still a zealous young man? He saw the sufferings of his own people and he took things into his own hands by killing an Egyptian who had beaten a fellow Hebrew. As a consequence, he had to flee for his life into the wilderness. Many Christians try to help God to make things happen in their lives. They take things into their own hands but end up ‘stranded’ by their own wisdom and man-made plans. Taking things into your own hands is never moved by faith but by ‘fleshly gut’.

So, how do you know if your ‘faith’ is from God and not merely the manifestation of your ‘fleshly gut’? You see, God always reciprocate to your faith in Him by filling you with His joy and peace (see Romans 15:13). The joy and the peace of the Lord are different from the temporary happiness and quietness the world can give. The inexpressible joy of the Lord gives you strength (see 1 Peter 1:8; Nehemiah 8:10). The unshakable peace of the Lord removes every trouble and fear in your heart (see John 14:27). When you choose to believe in God and agree with His words (and that’s having faith in Him!), He pours down His joy and peace upon you so that you won’t stumble or be shaken by any challenging circumstances around you. The presence of His joy and peace in your heart is the evidence of you having faith and putting hope in Him.

By the time in Exodus 33, Moses had learnt that he needed God’s presence with Him in everything he did. He knew that only when he do things with God’s presence and in His way would he find rest (‘rest’ here is 'nûach' in Hebrew, which means ‘settled’) and see results. That was also the time he asked God to show him His glory. Interestingly, God equated ‘His glory’ to ‘His goodness’. God placed him in the cleft of the rock when His glory (goodness) passed before Moses. Today, this cleft or the broken rock is Christ Jesus who allowed His body to be broken for you on the cross. Hence in Christ, you can always have God’s goodness and the hope of glory in your life (see Colossians 1:27).     

As you put your faith in God, He fills you with His joy and peace, so that you can abound in hope by the power of His Holy Spirit! (see Romans 15:13 again) Why do you need to abound in hope? God wants you to abound in hope because hope involves some time of waiting. Just as King David said in Psalm 130:5, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.” Waiting involves your soul which includes your mind, will, and emotion. Your soul needs to wait without coming out with emotional or own creative ideas which are not from your Creator and Redeemer. Why didn’t God call Moses when he was young, strong, and zealous to lead His people out of Egypt? Instead, He called him only when he was old and had lost all his self-esteem. Well, God knows best when is the ‘ripe-time’ His called ones are humble and mellow enough to listen and move according to His instructions. He always chooses the foolish to shame the wise, the weak to shame the mighty (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-31). If you think you have lost your prime time, put your faith and hope on the Lord who is the Redeemer of time. God is never constraint by your time, your strength, or your ability.

Therefore, in the time of waiting, continue to put your hope on His spoken words to you, whether it’s through the scriptures, visions and dreams, or words of prophecy received. Also, fill yourself with the Holy Spirit in worship often (see Ephesians 5:18-19).

Finally, know that your hope in God will not disappoint you because He loves you (see Romans 5:5). As you put your faith in Him, He’ll give you the joy and the peace, assurance and rest by His Spirit who resides in you, so that you’ll abound in hope. Your hope will then come to pass in His time. Amen.

Words from the Lord: "I am revitalizing the faithful and raising..."

Have you ever had an urgent thought, a vision or a dream about someone you know personally or even a stranger? The Lord has done this many t...