The God of Hope
September 05, 2017
Hope. In Lynn’s last couple of posts she has shared what the Lord has been saying to her about hope. As I meditated with the Lord on what to write about He gave me a similar instruction: HOPE.
I’ve previously shared on my three-strikes rule: if I read/hear a topic 3 times in a very short space of time I realise the Lord is wanting me to pay particular attention. This happened last week and the topic was, you guessed it, Hope.
These are crazy times indeed. Both at the global level: Nth Korea, Harvey, Trump, Charlottesville, Middle East, terrorism, etc and at the individual level: depression, suicide, divorce, job loss, and so on. Yes, these are crazy times.
But.
“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.” (Romans 15:13 NKJV)
We have a God of hope.
This verse starts with urgency: Now. Yes, we can allow our circumstances to derail our hope and in no way do I want to sound like I’m underestimating the impact of anyone’s trying individual circumstances. Some of us are doing it really tough and I cry out to Jesus for His presence and supernatural peace to invade all of our lives in a new and vibrant way.
But. Now.
I was having breakfast this last Saturday and Fiona came in to say an ambulance was next door and things weren’t looking good. Fi had some errands to run and I was agitated by what was going on next door. I could see our friends hovering at their front door as the paramedics were doing their thing. I didn’t want to intrude as I might just be getting in the way.
But I knew there was one thing I could do and Now. Go to our God of hope and pray. He knew what was going on with our friend’s mum who’d collapsed. So I interceded for her for the next however long. After about an hour the ambulance left and I was filled with peace even though I was uncertain of the status of her life. He was in charge. He knew.
Turn to Him. Now.
Often in difficult times we try to resolve the issue ourselves, panic, run around trying to be helpful. You get the picture. But we have a God of hope who knows all things.
Pray over your situation using the promises of God. God loves hearing us repeat His Words.
“Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 NKJV)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve prayed these verses in the last ten years or so. They really are my go to verses when anxiety grabs a hold and/or my circumstances have gone pear shaped.
Something miraculous happens when we pray His promises, we get filled with hope and our faith grows. That’s why the Bible is a supernatural book. Our words have power. Perhaps our circumstances may not change immediately but our perspective will.
Dearest Father, we love you, we worship you. Thank you that you are the God of hope. We come to you now as our God declaring that no weapon formed against us and our families will prosper. For you are our God. You will strengthen us, You will help us and you will uphold us with Your righteous right Hand. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Oh, our neighbour’s mom is okay. She is still in hospital for a few more days but is recuperating well. Hallelujah.
Blessings dear SUMite friends.