We are never given a physical description of God, but we have many descriptions of his character. He is called the God of peace, the God of love, and the God of all comfort just to name a few. Each of those phrases is important, but there is one more that tops them all.
In a prayer for his readers, the apostle Paul says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
I love that God is called the God of Hope because hope is powerful and life-changing. Struggling marriages can be put back together if there is hope! Those going through emotional or physical distress can not only hang on but thrive again if they can find their hope. Children grow and blossom when an adult instills hope in them.
To be clear, Biblical hope is not wishful thinking that says, “I hope the weather is nice next weekend”. Rather, Biblical hope is the belief that God knows you and your circumstances. It is the belief that there is a plan and that nothing is ever out of control. Even when we do not understand why things are the way they are right now, hope causes us to trust that God is working out something good (Romans 8:28).
From a practical standpoint, hope keeps us from panicking and allows us to approach life with more joy. Hope helps us to keep going when our circumstances become difficult. Hope allows us to see new and better answers to our problems.
1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love”. The church has been great about focusing on faith and love, but we cannot forget to focus on hope, because hope changes everything.
We must get to know the God of Hope!
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