One of my favorite verses is Romans 15:13, “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.”
Aren’t joy and peace things we treasure in life? After all, our days are full of unrest, hassle, and uncertainty. Very little peace, and maybe just a little happiness, is to be had from our circumstances.
Believers, however, have an external source of joy and peace that is endless and constant. Not only that, but their quality far exceeds that of any joy and peace to be had in the human world.
They are the joy and peace associated with believing. Yes – faith is rewarded by God filling us with joy and peace as we believe.
How does that work? I think it has to do with how we believe. Honestly, I have been guilty of stressing out as I placed my faith in God for certain things. I thought I had faith, but clearly, I did not. Instead, I had cramps and stress and wrestled with a barrage of what-if questions. Looking back, I realize that I limited my focus on the hand of God. I wanted Him to do something – to grant a wish, to open a door I thought would be beneficial, to advance me to a place I couldn’t reach on my own. My requests lacked the inquiry, “Is this what God wants?” The result was a mere hope that something would happen and that God would employ His power to grant my wishes. The byproduct was stress, not joy and peace.
An example was that I wanted to have a large prayer on the lawn of the Minnesota State Capitol on the National Day of Prayer – like in days gone before when we would pack 10,000 people in a stadium to pray for revival. We got our permits, rented a stage, sound equipment, and chairs, and advertised it widely. Minnesota weather in early May is often iffy. It could rain, shine, or snow. Our smaller noon-time gatherings on the Capitol steps had always benefitted from a break in the weather. So, we believed God for good weather that night. Instead, it rained. Buckets. We had to call off the whole thing, and our ministry lost thousands of dollars in equipment rented for nothing. I recall sitting in my car that evening and having a furious argument with God. One of my close pastor friends, who had come despite the weather, noticed me, slipped into the passenger seat beside me, and noticed my distress. He simply said,” It’s His parade. It’s up to Him if He wants to rain on it.” Then He slipped back out into the rain.
I realized I had not consulted God on what He wanted us to do at the State Capitol on His Day of Prayer. I repented and began the journey of learning to listen to Him before I ask.
That brings me to where joy and peace in believing come from. They come from seeking God—His face, His glory, His will—and letting our requests for specific things come from what we see and hear there. Someone once said, “If you only seek the hand of God, you miss His face, but if you seek His face, you get both.”
Wow.
God fills us with the joy and peace of believing when we seek Him for Who He is – with our eyes resting on His existence, His love, His grace, and His faithfulness. When we start there, it is easy to ask for specific things in alignment with His nature and will and believe the promise that He will answer.
The result? “That we may abound in hope.” That’s the third thing people crave. We want to have hope for the future, hope for eternity in heaven—not a vague wish but a strong belief that good things are coming no matter what.
Us seeking the Father’s face and Him filling us with the joy and peace of believing empowers the Holy Spirit to fill us with hope – a certainty that good things are coming when we continue in faith because they are coming from the hand of God.
I have made Paul’s prayer in Romans 15:13 my own now. It steers me constantly back to seeking God’s face. Seeing Him in my spirit fills me with deeper joy than I can have anywhere else, even if my life were pain-free and problem-free.
Make it yours today, too. It will direct your spirit’s gaze to Who God is and not just to what He can do for you. He will reward you with joy, peace, and abundant hope.