One of my nieces asked me if I knew Romans 15:13. I couldn’t call it to mind at the moment, so I asked her, "In the Greek?" I'm kidding, but have you noticed that when some people don't have an answer, they just make the question harder?
My niece reminded me of this blessing: "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."
Oh. That one. Maybe I needed to hear it. In English. I've used that as a benediction many times. Of course I know it. But is it still with me?
The apostle Paul prays for a hope that fills us so fully that it begins spilling into the lives around us.
Some people come in and spill all the latest news. They spill the beans about what's going on. Some spill their frustrations. Oh, but what joy to be around someone who spills a little hope.
Paul prays that we will overflow with hope.
How does that sound to you? To have enough hope that you can’t quite keep it to yourself. That means some hope spills into your conversations or the way you listen. To every part of your life.
Paul calls God “the God of hope.” So, the blessing is that you don’t have to make up what God has promised to give and to be. The Spirit keeps filling you, even while you have questions and struggles of your own.
Have you been around someone who spilled hope? There was something about the way they spoke or acted. Something they said that, by the time you left, you had a little hope again?
What happened was some of theirs got on you. So, let your hope do the same.
Stay blessed...john
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