Hope In Times of Joy

This week, I am going to be looking at aspects of hope which we often forget about. It is easy to think of hope in the context or wishing for something better in a bad situation, but I think to limit hope that way is missing out on its true purpose. I mean, assurance of hope is the Biblical definition of faith, isn’t it?

If we are honest, especially here in the west, we have to recognize that our lives are not that bad. Often, our biggest problems revolve around what to eat for dinner, not if we’ll eat dinner. We spend much of our lives in peace, free from burdens that we chose to remain blissfully unaware of. Perhaps this is why our reaction to adversity is so strong, why we call out to God in those times when things aren’t going our way.

When hope is left in the corner, only to be pulled out in times of need, one cannot say it is very effective in their lives. We are called to rejoice in hope, to be sure of that hope, and even abound in that hope. God wants to give us more hope than we think we would ever need. Why? Because hope Is not a sign of something going wrong. We have forgotten that we need God every bit as much in our comfort as in our discomfort. The more we allow God to fill us with hope, the more we will have when things would normally seem hopeless.

Allow God to be with you in times of peace so that He can pour upon you all of the amazing gifts He wants to bring, and rejoice in that overflowing of hope.

Pax,

Paul Hart Cochran