Day 6: Overflowing hope
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13 - NKJV).
God our Father, God of hope, in You alone we trust for deliverance and salvation (Jeremiah 14:22). You are our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas (Psalm 65:5).
To a world staggering under the weight of sin, death and destruction, You promised a Redeemer, Your Chosen Servant—the hope of all the world: in His name the nations will put their hope (Isaiah 42:4). The gospel writer Matthew pointed to the Lord Jesus as the fulfillment of that promise (Matthew 12:21).
But after the terrible events that culminated in the crucifixion of our Lord, His heartsick followers reeled under the shock. To an unknown travel companion two of them would later describe their utter dejection and disappointment: The chief priests and our rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him; but we had hoped that He was the One who was going to redeem Israel (Luke 24:20-21).
Father, how often as the cold clutch of disappointment grips our spirits, we groan as we think of what we had hoped, what we had prayed... And as we struggle through the bleakness of Friday to the numbing finality of Saturday, all hope seems dead, buried, and decisively sealed.
But You are the God who says, ..."I AM the Lord, those who hope in Me will not be disappointed" (Isaiah 49:23). You are the God who brings life from dust (Genesis 2:7), nations from childlessness (Genesis 15:5), rebirth from decay (Ezekiel 37:1-14). And You are the God who walks with us through our disappointment, even when, like the two going to Emmaus, we cannot see past our heavy hearts and dashed hopes (Luke 24:13-32).
O Lord, teach us to trust that in the silence, in the waiting, Your power is at work in ways beyond all we can imagine. Teach us to know that You open graves, and roll away stones, and bring life from death. Teach us to look to You and wait in hope for Your arm (Isaiah 51:5).
We pray for the grieving, the dejected, and the discouraged. Fill us all with Your overflowing hope—with all joy and peace in believing, so that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Remind us that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5 - NKJV).
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