I love these hope-filled words from Romans 15:13: “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.” (ESV)
Read back a few lines. In verse 5, Paul calls your Lord “the God of endurance.” This title really gets at the center of where your hope is to be found.
Let me state it plainly: your hope is not to be found in your willingness and ability to endure, but in God’s unshakable, enduring commitment to never turn from his work of grace. Your hope is that you have been welcomed into communion with One who will endure no matter what.
Why is this so important to understand? Because your endurance will be spotty at best. There will be moments when you forget who you are and live as a grace amnesiac. There will be times when you get discouraged and for a while quit doing the good things God calls you to do. There will be moments, big and small, when you willingly rebel.
Perfect endurance demands just that—perfection—and since none of us is there yet, we must look outside ourselves for hope. Your hope of enduring is not to be found in your character or strength, but in your Lord’s.
The only hope,
the only help,
the only rescue,
the only healing,
the only solace,
the only balm,
the only redemption,
the only restoration
for a broken,
dysfunctional,
sin-scarred,
evil-infected,
morally fallen,
dark, and dangerous
world
isn’t found in
information,
socialization,
education,
political solution,
psychological insight,
or personal reformation,
but in the willing
birth,
righteousness,
humiliation,
suffering,
sacrifice,
and resurrection
of a God-man Redeemer.
No idea can liberate,
no power can save,
no institution can redeem,
restore,
resuscitate,
or recreate
what sin has destroyed.
So a Son had to come.
Son of God.
Son of Man.
The Creator
came to recreate.
The Savior came to be
the sacrifice.
The blessed one
came to suffer,
and in suffering
to bless the world with hope,
help,
rescue,
healing,
solace,
balm,
redemption,
and restoration.
The cost of it all was
his life.
It was his birth mission,
his resurrection victory.
History marched toward his coming;
there was no other way.
Because God will ever be faithful, you can bank on the fact that he will give you what you need to be faithful too. Your perseverance rests on him, and he defines what endurance looks like.
It is the grace of endurance granted to you by the God of endurance that provides you with everything you need to continue to be what he calls you to be and do what he calls you to do between this moment and the moment when you cross over to the other side.
When difficulty exposes the weakness of your resolve and the limits of your strength, you do not have to panic, because he will endure even in those moments when you don’t feel able to do so yourself.
Now that’s a reason to be hopeful today!
God bless,
Reflection Questions
1. What are you hoping will happen this week, or what have you set your hopes on? Don’t try to be super spiritual; respond with the first thing that pops into your mind. It can be something mundane, like hoping for good weather or looking forward to a nice meal.
2. What is it about this “source of hope” that makes you excited? How will you feel if this hope is fulfilled? How will you respond if this hope doesn’t come to pass?
3. Think of the reasons why your hope in God should be unshakeable. Meditate on the ways Christ has brought you hope in the past.
4. Have you been struggling to endure recently? Be specific, and consider the weights which are distracting you from running with endurance the race set before you (Hebrews 12:1). How can you lay these aside this week?
5. Why can you be confident and remain hopeful even when your endurance is spotty at best? How can you preach the gospel to yourself in the moments when you are weak?