Hope

day 1: HOPE

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

As I was meditating on this promise, I decided to look up the definition of the word "hope". What I found was interesting, and worth sharing:

"To look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to feel that something desired   may happen"

Did you catch the irony in those definitions? By dictionary standards (and worldly standards) hope is merely a feeling...something MAY go right, something MAY be favorable for us, something MAY come about that MIGHT be desirable.

But it's anyone's guess.

Think of the things so often hoped for: I hope I get the new job. I hope my work is sufficient. I hope I get a raise. I hope my performance goes well. I hope people like me...

All of those things are "good feelings", but they aren't something we can fully depend on.

The biblical Hope talked about in these verses is different. It's more along the lines of the now-archaic definition of the hope: "To place trust; rely."

That definition is confident. Much like placing our hope in God...the source of hope. God promises to be our hope...confident hope. I love that. God isn't a feel good hope...he WILL NOT fail. God is stable. He was. He is. He always will be.

So instead of feeling something might be good...instead of hoping we won't fail...let's take advantage of the promise we have in true HOPE. All we have to do is trust in God and we will be on the receiving end of joy, peace and confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

*Tomorrow's promise is: His Word is Flawless - Psalm 18:30

*My source for the 25 promises of God is from ouroutofsynclife.blogspot.com