Romans 15:13 (ESV)
[13] May the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may
abound in hope.
Hope, joy, and peace. We are living in a day of fear, anxiety, and angst. People
are crying for joy and peace. They look to anything that will temporarily take
their minds off the fear and anxiety. People vegetate in front of the
television, aimlessly and endlessly play games or surf the online world on
their phones, engage in video games until late into the night, or worse, try to
ease the pain with alcohol, drugs, sex, or pornography. Those may numb the pain
for a time, but ultimately they increase the problem. Yet joy and peace are
nowhere to be found.
Notice three truths about joy and peace in these verses. First, they are
connected to faith. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing.” When we are filled with angst, when fear grips us, we need to
ask what it is that we truly believe. Do we believe that God works all things
for our good if we love him? Do we believe that God is more powerful than the
forces of evil around us? Do we believe that God is in control even when things
seem to be spiraling out of control? Or do we believe that somehow by worrying
we can change the outcome of events? What is it that we believe? Much of our
fear, and lack of peace is directly related to what we believe.
Second, joy and peace are sourced in God. It is the power of the Holy Spirit,
not our own power, that enables us to experience joy and peace when circumstances
tend toward anxiety and fear. They Holy Spirit empowers us, encourages us, and
reminds us of truth. Joy and peace in our world is truly a work of God in our
lives. It is one thing to be oblivious and happy. It is quite another to know
God’s joy and peace in the face of pain and opposition. Believers in Jesus
Christ have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. He comes alongside us with
encouragement and power, strength, joy and peace.
Third, joy and peace are connected to hope. Hope is expectation, not
uncertainty. Hope doesn’t mean that we hope that God is real but we can’t know
for sure. It doesn’t mean that we hope to go to Heaven, but we can’t be certain.
It means that we are sure of God’s existence, and certain that Heaven is our future.
We are convinced that God will never leave or forsake us. In our expectation of
eternity we are able to experience joy and peace here and now.
Joy and peace are there for those who believe in Christ. They are rooted in the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, grounded on our expectation for eternity, and activated by faith. Trust him. The challenge is that the sources of our fear are too often more real to us that the presence of God in our lives. May Paul’s prayer for the Roman believers be answered in our lives today. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
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