God is our Hope

May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope. ~ Romans 15:13 AMP

Have you ever hoped or wished for something? We use those words a lot..."I hope I get the job" or "I wish I could do better in school." We use these words but don't really think about what we're saying. We express our "hope" for something but most of the time it's just a word with no real expectation involved.

Read Romans 15:13 again. God is the God of our hope! We are supposed to be filled with all joy and peace in believing. And by the power of the Holy Spirit we are to abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope! WOW! That is powerful!

The Greek word for HOPE is elpis. It means to anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence: - faith, hope

"Hope" should not be a word that we just use when we want something to change in our lives. This is not something that just comes naturally. It should be a deep inner knowing that comes from the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us! As we pray and seek God regarding a situation, we must have a confident expectation that He is working on our behalf. We must anticipate that change will come and know that He hears our prayers and will answer them. If the answer does not come when we think it should, don't lose hope. God is still working! His timing is always perfect! We can't see the whole big picture and what He's accomplishing behind the scenes. It's not just about having our prayer answered the way we think it should be answered. It's about God's will be done in our lives as well as the lives of others.

Keep expecting! Keep believing! Delayed is not denied! Don't lose hope and allow the enemy to convince you that you will remain in this place forever. It's a process and some things we just have to walk through. In many situations, we gain more by walking THROUGH it than being delivered OUT of it. Our character is challenged in the difficult places. We get to know God better. We gain a greater understanding of the Word. It becomes personal to us and He begins to give us revelation.

Remember, God is your hope. He is faithful and true to His Word. Allow the Holy Spirit to cause you to overflow with hope! Fully expect that God will do what He said He would do and don't let go of your promise!