God of Hope

“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 5:13

Many times in my walk as a Christian I come to points that I feel like I am falling into a pattern of the cutout Christian.  We know what to say and how to say it to look like the strong Christian.  We know the signals from others to know if they believe or not.  We know how to recite scripture when needed.  However there are some times that I feel I have allowed my cutout Christian life to fill my spiritual life rather than Jesus himself. 

I recently went through a time of conviction, a simple nudge from the Holy Spirit to go deeper.  Suddenly this verse from Romans kept coming up in readings or teachings or simply opening my bible.  I began to look at this scripture multiple times daily, praying the scripture, memorizing the scripture and questioning the scripture.  Not questioning the validity but questioning how I needed to go deeper in the hope, joy and peace God and only God has for me.

There have been times in my life where things are not easy and the trials overwhelm me.  In these times I tend to look toward material or outward things that give me hope; when we get to a certain point in my husband’s career, when the kids get to a certain age, when we make a certain amount of money I will find joy.  During these times I go into a darkness of not seeing hope nor joy in anything.  I lose sight of what the real source of hope is.  The source of all hope is God, “the God of Hope.”  Paul is telling us here that Hope comes from God and God alone.

 “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.” Psalm 62:5

This is my starting place in centering my spiritual life, finding rest in the God of Hope.  The hope of all the promises He fulfilled in the birth and death of Christ.  The hope of what is yet to come.

Prayer:  Lord please convict me of the simple cutout Christian life I sometimes fall into and show me to the depths of my spiritual walk with you.  Let me continue to find my rest in the God of Hope.

Suggested reading:  Romans 4