“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…………….
“Thank you for the hope,” the man told me.
They were five of the most powerful, most beautiful, most amazing words I had ever heard.
On the very street I had walked over 20 years ago in New Jersey at a time I had been broken beyond human repair, lost beyond human hope, purposeless beyond description, utterly useless, without an ounce of hope for myself let alone for anything or anyone, I was now crouched down on the pavement on the side of the road with a homeless woman and a homeless man who were hanging out on the streets together. I had with tears in my eyes shared of my hopelessness all those years ago, and how I had found hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, how God had saved me through Jesus, how they could find hope in Jesus as Lord, how believing in Jesus Christ as Lord means an entire new way of life, a true faith and a genuine commitment to live for Christ, I had walked away from them just long enough to get a snack for them as I had felt compelled to do, and then came the words right before I gave them each one last hug and one last “I love you” and left them with my Gospel tract called Finding the Light.
“Thank you for the hope,” the man had told me.
How astounding that a woman as broken as I was, a woman about whom the professionals nor anyone else for that matter couldn’t see any real hope for any semblance of a normal and healthy life, was saved by God almighty through Jesus Christ and sent back to the very same streets decades later to spread the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I could have spent the whole day talking to my precious new friends. I had such a love for them, as God has given me for all people. And I would loved to have taken them into the pages of the Bible, to have encouraged them in a job search, to tell them more of my story, to spend time with them, etc, but I knew clearly from the Spirit of God that I had planted the seeds of hope He had wanted to plant and that He would do the rest.
Friend, whether you are utterly hopeless or filled with hope, whether you have lots of it or little or somewhere in between, there is no hope in the universe greater nor any hope that is everlasting like the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life on this earth as the Son of God, who died on the cross to pay our sin penalty of death, hell, and the lake of fire forever apart from God and who was raised from the dead so all who will turn away from a lifestyle of sin, confess they are sinners against God, seek God’s forgiveness, and place their trust in Christ as Lord, seriously committing their lives from henceforth to live for Christ, to live according to God and His ways for His glory, is forgiven by God and given a forever relationship with Him.
Only the Lord Himself could have taken a woman as hopeless as I was and turned her into a vessel of hope to plant seeds of hope in the hearts and lives of others.
When that precious man God created thanked me for the hope, in reality He wasn’t thanking me. He was thanking God for there is no hope like the Lord’s, and may this hope of Christ fill your heart, your life, and may you spread seeds of hope everywhere as the Spirit of God so leads you.
In His name, in His hope, in His strength, in His love, grace, and mercy, with His peace, for His glory, spread His hope, yes spread His hope, amen!