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.

Romans 15:13

Now more than ever we need hope, joy, and peace. As we look around the world full of pandemics, lawlessness, deception, and danger—how can we bring a word of hope to the world around us? Or to our hearts within us?

Here’s how.

Point to truth. In John 8:32, Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” This is true on many levels. Jesus IS the Truth (John 14:6). If we know him we are set free from the penalty, power, and (one day) presence of our sin.

It’s also truth on a little “t” level. In the fog of the current spiritual warfare, deception seems to rule the day. But we have God’s Word. We have an objective, rock-solid standard of truth that we can study and apply.

In any given area, we can know truth and this truth can set us free—including the truth about the end-times and spiritual warfare. We can be free from fear. Free from hopelessness. Free from depression. Free from confusion. Free from the soul-rotting lies of the enemy.

Now more than ever we need to know truth and allow it to set us free. The truth is God has a plan. It is on track. The conditions of the day are EXACTLY how he said it would look as we neared the time of the rapture. We don’t know the day or hour, but we keep watching. Even if we’re wrong and the Lord does not return in our life time, we will be more hope-filled, joyous, peace-filled, and effective as we live in anticipation of his return. Believers are told many times in the New Testament letters to watch, to wait, to be found ready.

Fifteen Minutes to Clarity

I’d like to leave you with some practical action. Take 5 minutes and write down the top 3-5 issues that seem to be stealing your peace and joy this week. Then take 5 more minutes to lift each of those up to the Lord in prayer, asking for His perspective—His Truth—on those issues. Lastly, take 5 more minutes to locate one verse of Scripture related to the issues that are weighing on you.

I guarantee if you take those steps you will begin to overflow with hope! Instead of allowing the events of the day to steal our peace and joy, let’s look at them through the lens of truth and allow our gaze to turn upward.

Notice the phrase “as you trust in him” in the verse at the opening of this article. Joy and peace are not automatic. They come “as we trust in him.” We must consciously turn our focus to God and put our trust in him daily.

This world is on shaky ground, but those of us who know Christ are not. He is still on the throne and one day—perhaps sooner than many realize—He will send the Son to fetch his bride. In the meantime we live with overflowing hope in a God who keeps his promises—even when all hope seems lost!

Rest in his track record, character, and truth today!