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. Romans 15:13 (ESV)
This verse was one of my memory verses last year. I’m so glad it was. These powerful words have come to mind several times throughout the course of the last 24 hours. Last night’s election results didn’t go the way I thought they would. I grieve the losses. I grieve what they all could possibly mean for my state and for our country. After hours of watching way too much tv, scanning websites, crunching numbers, one could lose hope. I was losing hope.
But Romans 15:13 reminds me my hope doesn’t come from election night or websites or numbers or majorities, but from God. He is the God of hope. And the best part is knowing that by the power of the Holy Spirit I can not just hope, but abound in hope.
When I looked up the word abound, here’s what I found…
“Abounding” is used of a flower going from a bud to full bloom.
I love that visual. Not just a bit of hope from a bud wound tight, but hope in full bloom. Radiant. Free. Complete. I want to abound in hope like that.
That kind of hope requires something of me. A choice. Choosing to let the God of hope fill me with joy and peace and belief.
So today – moment by moment – when waves of doubt and hopelessness rush in, I’m going to stop and choose. And pray…
Father God, my God of hope, fill me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of your Holy Spirit may I abound in hope. Amen and Amen.
On a side note: I am so, so, so proud of my guy. He ran an upright, focused campaign. He will continue to serve the people in his senate district with integrity, morality, wisdom and discernment. It was worth staying up until 3:30 a.m. to see that check beside his name. I am a proud wife!
