Hope, joy and peace
Romans 15:13
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.
It had been a good couple of days of deer hunting. My friend had seen more big bucks in one day than he had his whole life combined. There were a few opportunities for a shot and when they did present themselves it didn’t work out the way we had hoped. But it was only two days out of 5, that best was yet to come.
I was guiding a friend of mine who was also a pastor that week in the hills and valleys of Central SD, just off of the Missouri River. It was a chance to serve a pastor that was in need of a refreshing. It was the third day of the 5 days and happened to be his birthday. What a great day… maybe not. The deer cooperated… the archery gear, not so much. However through some missed great opportunities and missed shots, we both remained joyful… how?
If we can fully receive the hope, joy and peace that God offers… what a difference it can make in our lives.
In "McLaren's Exposition" on these verses above, he writes, "Joy in the Lord and peace with God are the parents of all joy and peace that are worthy of the name."
So until we find "peace with God" and "Joy in the Lord" we will not find true Joy and Peace here in this life.
That would mean releasing all of the "stuff" we are holding in our hearts... The hurts, grudges, envy, the missed shots and the pain. Everything that we feel we need to conquer, everything that has hurt us or everything that we need to "get even" with others for.
So first we need to truly trust God and know that He will provide ALL of what we need. And, that He will ALWAYS have our best interest at heart. Then pray for Him to fill us with the joy, peace and hope that we should all have as the very children of God.
We remained joyful and hopeful for the hunt, right up until the last few minutes of daylight on day 5. It was then that my friend took the best buck of his like. There were 4 of us there to share it with him and God did not disappoint!
It would be a shame to go through life without these gifts. HOPE, JOY AND PEACE.
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