ABOUNDING IN HOPE

Recently, a distraught sister in Christ wrote these words to me: “I am terrified. I think it would be wonderful if a hydrogen bomb fell on us, especially on me and my family. It would all be over for us in such a hurry. We’d be with Jesus! I lost my husband to cancer and one of my two unmarried daughters has health problems and hasn’t worked for two years. I just got out of the hospital and am recovering from a broken back. We have suffered terribly for the past few years. Members of our fellowship are being persecuted, and my friends are all suffering unmercifully. Fear and anxiety are my lot in life. Mr. Wilkerson, we are hurting! Is there no hope for the Bride of Christ?”

This woman is just one among thousands who write us of their despair and hopelessness. We hear from so many who deeply love the Lord but live in situations and conditions that appear hopeless to them. They speak of dead-end marriages and health and family problems, and they use such phrases as: “There is no way out!”

“God doesn't seem to hear me.”

“Nothing ever changes. It just goes from bad to worse!”

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. I wish the Lord would come and get me out of this pit!”

It has been said that the only things worse than insanity are despair and hopelessness. But praise the Lord, we serve a God of hope! The Greek word for hope is elpo, which means “to look forward to with pleasurable confidence and expectation.” The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13).

Paul introduces an incredible idea: “that you may abound in hope.” He means, “that you may have enough to spare; a supply that is overflowing, excessive, beyond measure!” Some may think, “That sounds like a cruel joke. In my present condition all I want is a ray of hope, just a single evidence of answered prayer. Just one little sign of change!”

But, beloved, God’s Word is true! He is a God of hope—a hope that is excessive, overflowing and beyond measure.