Reading: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” —Romans 15:13

We cannot pray to the God of hope except that title really means something to us personally. Paul appealed unto the God of hope whenever he asked that those to whom he wrote might experience “all joy and peace.” What a desirable prospect—full joy and full peace! What kind of joy and peace is this? It is a joy that can fill and a peace that can sustain.

The world has its joy but it never fills. That is why more joy must be sought after. Yet the God of hope holds out joy that can fill. Psalms 16:11: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy.” When something is full there is no room for more.

Just as it’s always best to grocery shop on a full stomach, so if you have joy in the Holy Ghost you will need nothing more. It will not be an external superficial joy that always is taken away, but a deep, profound fullness, a heavenly joy that is answerable to the soul’s vast and just desires. Psalm 4:7: “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.” Psalm 63:5: “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.”

What about full peace? The world has its peace, but such peace is disturbed with every difficulty. The world’s peace is peace without difficulty. The peace of the God of hope is peace in difficulty. Such joy and peace can come only from God—it surpasses our understanding.

“When peace like a river attendeth my way, / When sorrows like sea billows roll, / Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, / It is well, it is well with my soul.” —Horatio Spafford