Romans 15:13
God of Hope
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.
Trust in the LORD of Hope
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Job 11:7
Can You Fathom the Mysteries of God
7 “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
1 Corinthians 2:6-8
Mysteries of God
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Mysteries of God
1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
Matthew 7:13-14
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
John 16:33
In This World You Will Have Trouble
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Acts 17:24-31
God is Near Us
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
John 14:19
Because Jesus Died and Resurrected, We Shall Live
19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
Mark 12:24-27
God is Not a God of the Dead, But a God of the Living
24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
Our God is a God of hope...And our Father is one of mystery...Can anyone of us fathom this mysteries of God?...How can we probe the limits of His Almighty Mind, when our minds are so limited?...And in all of this is a great mystery...He is our LORD and Father, and this mystery surrounds Him that has been hidden...And God is destined for our glory before even time began...None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the LORD of glory...
I have watched a few good mysteries on television and the movies and read a few books based on intrigue and mystery...And the mystery is never uncovered at the opening part or beginning of the show or explained to us in the first chapter...
And we do not much of the time understand His mystery, yet we, as believers, hold on to this hope of God...So in our God of hope, and in hope itself, there is this mystery...Hope is a mystery, or in hope there is mystery...And we can relate this mysterious hope to God...God in His hiddenness and His mystery somehow brings us this hope...I sometimes think it is the Holy Spirit in us that gives us this hope...Or as St. Paul puts it may our God of hope fill you us with joy and peace and hope as we trust in Him...And by trusting in Him may me overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit...We think that somehow He will be their for us, and near us, and with us, and if not these things then He will intervene for us, when we have problems...And we must remember, this intervention of His may not an immediate thing...God's intervention may take a year or two or ten...And then we look back at those years, we can say my Father has intervened for me...So He was there, wasn't He...Right when I needed it, and was praying -He was there, after we have looked back...I did not see Him there at the time, but He was there...Just as He is here and near, right now...It is only after we have looked back and reflected have we realized this sometimes...
Mystery has this uncertainty thing about it...We do not know where the Author of Life is going to take us...We do not know what path He will take us on...If we believe in Him, the path will be narrow and straight, and we will have problems and troubles...And we often do not say this, but we really want to know where we are going...And we do not want to have problems in our lives, let alone troubles...We want a path so wide that we can dodge and get out of the way of any trouble or problems that we see coming...And we also want to know the road we are on and how many problems lie ahead...But the real truth is we do not know what bumps are on the road -we cannot see our future problems or our future troubles...But both in mystery and in life our troubles cannot be avoided -some just happen...And through all this the believer clings to this hope of this Great Mystery of God, and in the great mystery of hope...
What we can do is to trust in the LORD, as we take His narrow path...Know we will have these troubles, some griefs, and problems in the future...But hope keeps us Him near...This God of Hope gives us some strength and a foundation when the troubles and problems arise in our lives...And as life takes us down our final paths, we will see our close friends and families pass on to a new and better place...The God of Hope is not far from any one of us...He is a God of the Living...And He wants everyone to believe in Him and His Son...And though we die, we shall live -our Father can raise us from the dead...And He has given proof of this to everyone by raising His Son from the dead...