February 25: The God of Hope

Hope is hard to produce on demand. Some mornings you just don’t have any.

Paul ends a long section of his letter with a blessing. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Look at who the hope belongs to. God is called the God of hope. Hope is His, first. He’s its source. And He fills people with it. It’s not something you have to manufacture from your own reserves.

That’s important, because your reserves are probably low. Drinking drains hope. Each failed attempt to stop, each broken promise, each morning of regret chips away at your belief that things can change. By the time many people reach recovery, they’ve almost run out.

Step Two meets you there. Coming to believe in a Power greater than yourself means, in part, believing that hope can come from outside you. You don’t have to generate it. You can receive it.

Notice the order in the verse. Joy and peace come in believing. Hope overflows by the Spirit’s power. Belief comes first, even small belief, and the filling follows. You trust a little, and God pours in more than you started with.

This is a promise you can hold onto on the days when you feel empty. Hope isn’t a mood. It’s a gift from a Person. Moods come and go. The God of hope stays.

Practically, you can ask for it. Simply. “God, I’m out of hope today. Fill me.” That’s a prayer He loves to answer. And you can put yourself where hope tends to flow: meetings, where people share how things got better; church, where the promises are spoken out loud; time with a friend who’s further along.

Some days the filling is dramatic. Most days it’s quiet. You notice, sometime in the afternoon, that you’re a little less heavy than you were at breakfast. That’s the God of hope at work.

One thing today

Pray Romans 15:13 for yourself by name this morning. Then pray it for one other person in recovery and send them a text saying you did.

A prayer

God of hope, I’m running low. Fill me with joy and peace as I trust You. Let hope overflow in me today, by Your power and not my own.

Hope is the center of Step Two.

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