Rom 15:1313 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
You know, this scripture really encouraged me recently and the Holy
Spirit was telling me a lot. I sense that people are at different stages and
levels of expectations; results, promotion, a client, school, finances, a
project, a job.
And many people find it terrifying having to wait when it is
taking time, or are in situations that they are tired of hoping because they
have been hoping for so long. They have been disappointed so much that it’s hard
to hope again. Now they’re in a practical phase. This is real life yunno, get
your head out of the clouds.
Hope wasn’t a concept I was alien to. I’d listen to motivational
speeches, I’d even listen to teachings by the likes of Myles Munroe, of blessed
memory, TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, I’d hear their testimonies, it would pump me up for success. But then real-life situations are almost always different. I wanted to
fulfill my purpose and do all these great things, but there was a divide between
what was in my head and my reality.
Then I figured it out; I was trying to produce hope without the power of
the Holy Spirit. And it was wearing me out. Romans 15:13 tells us you overflow
with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. better talk.
Romans 15:13 King James Version (KJV)13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
It goes beyond, goody too shoes, feel-good motivational, sweet, it-will-get-better talk.
Because where most people have difficulty is in waiting or still hoping
when an expectation is not met at the time they want it.
Notice from the above text that it is the job of the Holy Spirit to keep you in peace and joy while you are believing. So you’re not just waiting in trepidation or in depression or just being a train-wreck till what you are believing works out. You are believing for
something in peace and joy up to the point it overflows. Not in panic or
depression till it works out.
God is the Prince of Peace, and He is the God of hope. Listen to
something radical; GOD WILL ALWAYS MAKE YOU HOPE FOR SOMETHING. No matter how
bad things are, GOD WILL ALWAYS GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO HOPE FOR!
And it’s not
this fearful expectation of will it happen or not? but a peaceful, joyful, blissful; patience in believing and waiting.
When you throw away your
expectation you are being ungodly. That is demonic. It shall be done unto you
according to your expectations.
You know Jesus said that I will send you another comforter, the Holy
Spirit. The truth is that in this world you will have trouble. And many
people have thrown away their faith because of a situation; grief, loss,
heartbreak, failures. And they question the whole point of serving God. They cannot go beyond a
particular situation where their expectations were not met to believe God again
in their finances, health, education, ministry, beyond the report from the
doctor, beyond the loss, beyond the breakup…
But people think believing God means you will never get a bad report.
Isaiah asks us, “whose report will you believe?”;
Can you go beyond the
negative response? believing in faith for your finances and not seeing results
yet; the test not coming back the way you want it…
King James uses the word; Abound in hope! God wants you to abound in
hope so much so that even in a negative situation, you can see the good, you
can see how it will possibly work out.
Now, this is not saying God allowed the
negative thing to happen or brought it because in him is light and there is no
darkness at all! But you know we are in a fallen world, and bad things happen,
but even when the situation is a result of your own foolishness and poor
decisions; God blessed and defended Abraham even when he was lying about his
wife and making poor decisions.
This was because He had righteousness accounted to him.
Now Jesus is our righteousness and God will even work out your failures for
good.
So it did not work out the way you wanted, you had to repeat a school
year; God can use it to teach you something new, meet someone helpful to your destiny, meet a
future prospect, business partner, life partner, open you to business
opportunities in that area, open you to life-changing information, make you
available to pour into lives that will be a blessing on a national scale. Countless possibilities and blessings can come up from a bad situation, the way you did not plan if you change your perspective.
You can find good in any and every situation! My mentor always used to
say, even if they were about to cut off your head, you can find something to be
joyful and hopeful about; the knife may be brand new; not rusted, and blunt.
That is something to shout about!
And this is not just positivity, but allowing the Holy Spirit to talk us
into hope. Many people feel it is an automatic process that they should just
feel good and hopeful.
Granted if you have exercised your senses it can come naturally but
sometimes it is not by feelings. See what the scripture says:
This
is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in
his presence 1 john 3:19
The scripture says we
assure our hearts. We are the ones that set our hearts at rest in his presence.
We have to make that conscious effort sometimes. We need to allow the Holy
Spirit comfort us.
1 Samuel 30 (Text
Case Study)
David once had his town burnt to the ground
and all the women and children were taken away. Worse he wasn’t around, and his two
wives were among the captives. He came back to ashes and loss. Scripture said he and his
men wept till they had no strength left. Do you know what it means for a grown
man, a king, as powerful as David, the man after God’s heart, to cry so much?
You know the problem had hit the ceiling.
So David and his
men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 1 Samuel 30:4
David was so
discouraged and distressed;
for the people spake of stoning him, because of the
soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his
daughters Samuel 30:6a
This was really bad. But
what did David do?
David encouraged himself
in the LORD his God.
David did not wait for
anyone or voice to encourage him.
So many times people expect something
automatic. People closest to me know that I’m a walking bag of hope.
The job of the Holy Spirit
to the New Testament believer is to comfort and encourage us even in
difficulties.
But do not talk yourself out of the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Instead, talk yourself into it. That is where you need the power of the Holy
Spirit;
"Be still,
and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted
in the earth Psalm 46:10
When you silence panicky,
fearful thoughts; praise God, worship him, study the word, listen to worship
music, listen to a sermon, fellowship with the brethren, pray in the spirit, speak in tongues.
In the stillness, you recognize the bigness of your God and He
is exalted in your situation.
You are using the power of the Holy Spirit to
produce and sustain hope in your life.
And hope does not mean you
just do nothing or do the wrong things and hope everything works out; in that
state of stillness, the Holy Spirit ministers hope, the next move, the next
the thing to say; per time.
Samuel 30:8 and
David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I
overtake them?" "Pursue them," he answered. "You will
certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."
God speaks when you are in
clarity of mind. Noticed that it was after David encouraged himself in the Lord that he inquired and God told him what to do.
Encouraged, God tells you the next step, gives you hope; He
doesn’t just comfort you but gives you the power to move on.
Most times the
power to move on is in the comfort.
Samuel 30:
David recovered
everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
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18David recovered all that the Amalekites had
taken, and David rescued his two wives.
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18So David recovered all that the Amalekites had
taken, and rescued his two wives.
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18And David recovered all that the Amalekites had
carried away: and David rescued his two wives.
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18David recovered everything the Amalekites had
taken; he also rescued his two wives.
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19Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl,
plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
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David recovered every
single thing and person! Nothing was missing!
The Lord can encourage you
if you let him and make you recover from everything life has thrown at you.
God dwells in the realm of
faith, not in the realm of emotions. David was crying and all that but it was not
until he encouraged himself in the Lord and asked God for what to do that God led
and helped him overcome his enemies.
Wipe your tears, Be
encouraged in God. Allow the power of the Holy Spirit to make you abound so much
in Hope.
Jesus loves you. Life is
gonna get better, brighter!
Romans
5:5 King James Version (KJV)
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
The Holy Spirit disperses
the love of God through our hearts. That’s his job. Allow him to do it today.
Be hopeful!