Romans 15:13

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.

There is only one thing that can get us through the difficult times. Something that people all throughout time have clung to and that kept them going. It is something that brings only happiness if it is met. Of course I mean hope. When we are torn down and emotionally beaten, hope can renew in us the will to go on. It reminds us that things can get better. With hope, we persevere through the hard times and do what we can to make our situations the way we want them.

For the Christian, this is doubly true. While here on this earth, the Christian suffers things of the flesh as well as the mind. During our whole sojourn we are surrounded by those who want to see us succumb to despair and fall from our faith. It is a bleak existence we live. However, hope is what gets us through it. In fact, while hope is something that all men everywhere feel, the Christian’s hope has certain qualities about it that make it so much better.

First off, we serve a God of hope (Romans 15:13). He does not leave his people on this earth to suffer needlessly but provides the hope to strengthen them. He makes promises that are so wondrous that it makes suffering worthwhile. Our treasures will not be destroyed (Matthew 6:20), we have been freed from sin (Romans 8:2), salvation is a free gift to all (Ephesians 2:8) and we could go on with the things God has promised. This is what Paul strove for and what allowed him to be joyous despite his sufferings.

This hope is not a false hope either. God has always kept His promises all throughout time. All three of the promises given to Abraham came to pass, the Israelites conquered the land, David became king and so on and so forth. If He was willing to keep these physical promises, how much more so would He keep the spiritual ones.

However, in order for the hope to be fulfilled, we must trust in what God has said. We cannot live a life that does not follow God’s commandments or is afraid to stand up for what is right. If that is our attitude, all of these things we hope for will not be ours. Remember Matthew 7:21-23. Not every person who believes themselves to be Christians will obtain heaven but only those who do the will of the Father. We must allow this hope to fuel us and keep us on the straight and narrow path, doing as God would have us to do.