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.
– Romans 15:13, NIV
I would encourage you to use this verse as a prayer.
Put your own name in the “you” slot and pray it over yourself as you struggle to hold onto hope.
The key part of this verse is all about trusting God.
We are filled with joy and peace as we let go of controlling what we cannot control. This idea is especially important when facing impossible situations regarding divorce, custody battles, employment, and adultery discovery. Such outcomes or actions are not things we control as we do not control other people’s decisions or actions.
We control our own.
And we can control our attitude toward such matters.
We can let go.
And it is more than just letting go. We are saying that we will choose to trust God even and especially when we are hurt and fearful. The Romans understood this living in a world where Christians were persecuted and even grossly slandered (e.g. early Christians were regarded as human baby-eaters as a result of an ancient misconception about the practice of Communion).
It is an act of faith to trust God.
But as we see in this verse, the trust comes first and then comes the peace and joy.
I pray that God may grant you the grace and courage to trust Him during your own difficult seasons. Then may God honor such faith with peace and joy.
