Romans 15:4 (NIV)

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

Through His eyes we are abounding in hope! How in the world, in times like these, can we have hope? It seems like such a crazy thing to think about. Do you find yourself wringing your hands, pacing the room, worrying about the situation? This verse directs us to learn from the Bible. As we learn, we develop endurance and encouragement which then leads to hope. It is during circumstances like the ones we are in right now that we must go to the Bible to learn what God says.  What we learn from the Bible will lead us to feel comfort because we learn more about God’s nature and character. The Bible is full of advice, wisdom, and promises for us. We need to seek out God’s truth in the Bible for every circumstance. There have been so many times in my life that I have needed the comfort from what I learned about God in the Bible! I have also had long stretches of time that I have had to exercise patience and trust in God’s promises. By learning and studying the Bible I have learned about how God works, about His promises, and how He is always working for my good. When I rest in that knowledge, I have hope! Notice that the way to abound in hope is through the difficult and trying times which cause us to seek out the comfort and patience the Bible provides. There isn’t an easy way around this. God uses these times to grow and mature us. God says in Philippians 1:6 that he began a good work in you and he will finish it. That is a promise that you can trust.  The more you study the Bible the more you will learn about God and his promises and then the more hope you will have. You have hope! You have hope that you will be okay, that God knows what is going on, and that He is working for you. What a great gift from God that we can have hope in spite of everything going on around us. Let’s start reading and learning from the Bible to find out more!