“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
My oldest daughter was turning sixteen. As parents, we were excited and worried all at the same time. The new driver’s license and the chance at a new kind of freedom she has never had before. The mighty steed on which to carry her into this new land of freedom was a 2006 Jeep Liberty. It was blue with leather seats, good mileage, good tires, good price, and I purchased it. It was great for a short time, but it quickly turned into the worst purchase I had ever made. After fixing nearly everything on the vehicle and rescuing my daughter multiple times, we finally go rid of it. It was cursed is what my daughter told me. It was practically a new Jeep when I traded it for a Nissan after all the things I fixed on it. JEEP; Just Empty Every Pocket, and I did! My trust was in something that did not return joy and peace.
As a scientist I look at things as if they were in an experiment. Our verse is from a part of Romans where Paul is coaching the church not to be so judgmental to the Gentiles when it came to eating and drinking. Instead of being legalistic about what to eat and drink, Paul simply tells them to make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification. This is not to say that we should just lay down our Christian values when we are confronted with practices that are against God’s will and Word, no. These people where making eating and drinking into a huge battle that ended up separating them even further than they already were.
Romans 15:13, to me, is an equation. A + B + C = D. Let’s break it down.
A. God is a God of hope. In order for you to worship Him you have to understand that He is a God of hope and not a God wrath that is looking to strike you down the minute you sin. Study what Jesus’ blood on cross did.
B. He will fill you with joy and peace. Again, we must get to the place where we believe that God can and will fill us with joy and peace instead of trusting in circumstances. We walk by faith and not by sight.
C. We must trust Him. Faith is a muscle and if you don’t work it out it never becomes strong.
D. We will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we overflow with hope, it should show in your everyday life. So much so that your testimony is Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” You will become someone who’s hope is in God alone and no matter what the world can throw at you, it will never take the peace away.
That Jeep Liberty was a gamble, like all used cars. Just because it looked good that did not mean it was going to make us overflow with joy and peace. You might be doing the same thing in your own life. Putting trust into things and circumstances instead of God. As a result, your life gets veered off track or your are left picking up the pieces when things go south. Today choose to trust in God and honor the equation if you will. Joy and peace come when we trust in the Lord and as a result we will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And you thought you weren’t going to use math in the real world…
A math prayer: God help me to trust in you and fill me with joy and peace so I can overflow your hope to those around me. Amen.
Let It Go 
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