The God of hope

Soggy summer day again, with the rain falling in waves from the sky and bowing down the heads of the saturated roses. No cold beer today, just hot coffee.

No sitting in the garden either. But I continue to draw encouragement from Jesus, knowing that he knows. He has walked this path before, though his was considerably steeper and more rugged. And I am thinking of another favourite verse, from Romans 15: ‘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.’

Hope is one of the distinguishing marks of a Christian life. It takes us through the crises and the traumas and the tough decisions, as we look through the heavy rain and see the rainbow, even if it is still in our imagination. It is coming. Breakthrough is on the way.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, in every teardrop through which  we walk in life, there lies a rainbow. Jesus is our bright hope, the hope of glory (his glory) shining through the lives of those who love him. His light shining on our rain creates that spectrum of colour arching through the skies.

So when I feel at my weakest, his strength is visible. When I am at my wits’ end, his wisdom guides me. That is what my faith is all about, and I know it to be true because I have relied on God during many challenging times in my life, and he has never failed me. 

Sometimes I have had to walk that way of the cross, like I feel I am walking now with my dear old mom, but I know that Jesus walked this way before me, and he walks with me, and in the end he will be glorified.

In that hope and in that trust lies that peace which passes all understanding.