May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Rom. 15:13 (ESV)
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isa. 41:10 (ESV)
Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 1:13 (ESV)
Heavenly Father, on this late August Thursday, we are so thankful for your Word. Thank you for speaking to us with words we can understand and trust. Today, in particular, we’re thankful to know and worship you as the God of hope.
In a world of predictable unpredictabilities, unsettling circumstances; and broken people, places, and things, it is a source of immeasurable peace to know you love us and are in control of everything—hurricanes, Trade Wars, the new school year, cancer, the 2020 election, the number of our days and hairs, every ruler and each nuke, melting glaciers and the growth of your Kingdom.
We can’t name one about which you don’t say, “That’s mine.” Thank you for giving us hope, not hype. It’s not that it makes life easy, but it sure makes it good. We don’t have to be dismayed by anything or anyone. For your “righteous right hand” has a firm hold on us; and every atom, nanosecond, and crisis in the cosmos.
And your grip is the grip of grace. You are fully with us and completely for us. We know this to be true because of the riches you’ve lavished on us in the gospel.
Because you’ve already given us so much grace in Jesus, we choose to set our hope “fully on the grace yet to be given”—the even greater grace we will receive when Jesus returns. Father, thank you for being so hope-igniting, peace-fueling, and utterly trustworthy. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ holy and loving name.
