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.