2510) I hope I will get the job. I hope I can see my family soon. I hope my marriage will thrive. All these things are what most understand the word hope to mean.

 Yet, these usages of the word hope don’t quite hit the mark of how it’s used in Romans 15:13. Here, Paul urges us to be filled with joy and peace because the God of hope exists.

This word, hope, in the Greek is elpis, and it means an assurance that God will do all he has promised to do right now, as he has in the past and will in the future.

Hope is not a feeling, though feelings can be affected by it. Instead, hope is a form of faith. It’s saying to yourself, this situation is difficult, but I’m reminding myself that Jesus has said, He will give us rest because he has everything in control. Matthew 11:28. Hope takes on a new meaning when we stand on God’s promises.