I wrote yesterday about how I enjoy reading and contemplating Romans 5:1-5. I hope you took the time to also read it and that it spoke to you. Sometimes it is good to not just read through a paragraph in Scripture, but to look at the individual words and think about each word, or combination of words.
In that paragraph, you will find faith, hope, and love. You will come across rejoicing and suffering. Did you notice the Trinity? God the father. Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit.
My focus kept coming back to verse 5: “This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” [HCSB]
My thoughts centered on the hope that does not disappoint. I’ve lived 75 years and I must acknowledge that there have been many disappointments in my life. Many times my expectations have not come to pass. Too many times people have disappointed me. I’ve been disappointed in employers, church, friends, products, vacations, locations, you name it. Disappointments abound in this world.
But Paul’s emphasis here is on “the hope” that does not disappoint. That hope is born out of suffering; it is produced when suffering is approached correctly. That hope does not disappoint, Paul says, “because God” … because God in the midst of our suffering poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
I can look back on these 75 years and admit there have been many disappointments. I can look back and see the times when suffering seemed to be the norm rather than the exception. But I can also look back and see the times that God simply picked me up and set me on His lap and held me close. I can hear His whispers that He was with me, that this too shall pass.
Those were special times, and they produced a hope that whatever suffering might arise, God’s love will see me through.
