5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus . . . .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. (Romans 15:5,13)
This world is difficult to endure. Make no mistake, the odds are stacked against you in this mortal coil. Every day stressors and life confusions make for tough living most days. Perhaps one of the greatest gifts we get from salvation is the ability to not only endure, but to have encouragement within the frustration. Jesus, who is the king of enduring an impossibly ridiculous set of life experiences, is our model and therefore grants us His temperament as we pursue Him. This alone would be a great gift to us; this ability to simply grit our teeth through it. Yet, Jesus always the extravagant savior grants us encouragement in the midst of a broken life. In this world we have a poor definition of what it means to be encouraged. We force it through our Chick Fil A drive thru and ignore its grit. Encouragement wears work clothes. It battles in the middle-class of life against all odds. As believers, we earn this through the cross, the ultimate example of both endurance and encouragement. It binds humanity together, granting the ability to live in such harmony.
And in this we hope.
When faced with opposition, your perspective on the character of God makes all the difference. While Scripture is complex, there is no doubt that our God is in fact a God of hope. And hope, like encouragement, is anything but natural. Verse 13 teaches us to believe and to press into Christ. In doing so, we will find an abounding hope. This is not simply hope for today, but hope for a broken span of life and for a healing eternity. Terms such as hope, joy, and peace are Hallmarked in our culture. Even through the cliché, we long for such traits. So where is your joy? What brings peace and in what do you hope? All good is from an all-good Father of lights who grants such things so that His kids might be flaming examples of a love divine. May His character become our own. In this, and only this, will the world know true hope.
Lord, grant us such grace to live within the freedom your character provides.
Matt simon blog 