Romans 12:12

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer ~ Romans 12:12


These words come to us from a section of Paul’s writing and are under a heading called “Love in Action.” When we read his words, they are almost a takeaway from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. They give us the same counter measures of how to relate to others with the love of Jesus so as to overcome evil with good. Love will always do that. When love is in use, evil shrinks back. Being joyful in hope is not to ignore what may be happening, but to look upward and forward through it. It is not to say, “I am happy,” but it is to say, “I know God has a plan and he will help me get through this…and one day it will be better.” It is that one day which helps us to be patient. We know that all things are temporary, and that tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow may make all the difference in the situation; we all know that too well. When we have patience, we wait for God to act, for he is an acting God. Will he change my heart, will he change my circumstance, will I see a new way through him, because of him, and in him? Patience is hard. But living with patience says that God can and will do something better out of something that is bad. We learn in our waiting. Which then leads to being faithful in prayer. We continue to lift our troubles up before him who is the Great Caregiver. Prayer is our conversation before a God who listens and responds to our heart’s cry. He wants relationship with us, he wants conversation with us. He is our friend and our God. He will answer! Be hopeful, patient, and prayerful. He will come and bring you aid.

Pastor Julia

image by pixabay 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments

Popular posts from this blog

Romans 8:26

Image
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans ~ Romans 8:26 Many days, many times, I have the words for prayer. It comes forth and flows fairly naturally as I converse with my Lord God. I hope in the God I worship to hear me, and to receive my words, as I pray in the name of Jesus and believe in Him, my intercessor. He is my Living Saviour, my High Priest, standing at the right hand of God the Father. But there are times when my pain has been so deep that my words will not come. There are times when my agony is so piercing that what words I may speak would not be enough. And so, in my deep, black moments, I come before my God and let my darkest emotions erupt in sounds that only He can understand. The Holy Spirit within me cries out in my stead, and He becomes my second intercessor. It is not that He is not there with me in all my prayers, but there are times wh...
Read more

Proverbs 18:2

Image
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in sharing their own opinions ~ Proverbs 18:2 If we are going to understand something, we must fully digest it so that when we speak, we speak with wisdom. When we have only half truths in our mind, our words become empty and senseless. We then puff out air rather than understanding when we speak. A wise person will want to improve their mind through learning in various ways from the world around them. A person who delights in spiritual understanding will find peace and enjoyment in reading the Word of God on a daily basis, and in participating with God’s people in a learning and praising environment – the church! We come together in corporate worship with the understanding that not one of us knows all things, but we bend our mind and heart to learn what God has to show and say to us. A foolish person makes a show of what they “know” to please their friends or to save face in front of them. More often a wise person will hold t...
Read more

Isaiah 43:19

Image
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert ~ Isaiah 43:19 When we meet a challenge, we are often found discouraged, lost, even hopeless. Nothing is working, everything seems to be against us. We do not know how to move forward, so we remain curled up in a ball. Then, a glimmer of light shines through! Hope is regained and movement is stirred within. Don’t we become excited when we begin to feel it? God moves like that. We cannot see our way around it, but He can and does. And He makes a way for us out of the calamity of our fears. It is the feeling of springtime after a long winter, or the smell of fresh cut grass. Life stirs within and we move and we see what God saw all the time – the answer to our dilemma. Our desert place becomes an oasis, and we can do what we are called to do. Something totally unexpected happens, something unheard of, but it begins in our life, and we feel the...
Read more