Believing things for yourself

‘And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.’ Romans 5.2

This is probably not language that you might normally use, but through it Paul is encouraging us to live our lives in a positive way.  Today we will look at the ‘hope of the glory of God’ and tomorrow the phrase that follows it.

A good definition of hope is the refusal to regard our present situations as how they will remain for ever.  This means that the hope of the glory of God is the ability to be able to see God shining in whatever we might be going through – and then to rejoice in it.  Is this where you are?

It’s likely that we are all guilty of uttering statements that don’t really reflect what we actually believe, such as saying that God loves us but deep down doubting the reality of this love when times are tough.  The glorious challenge of this verse is that we can begin to believe it, and perhaps the best way of doing so is to begin to rejoice in it.  You will be only too aware of the areas of your life that are troubling you, and you might well be able to say to others that you are doing fine, but inside you are not too sure.

A good place to start is to take a promise of God that relates to your situation and spend time pondering it; thinking about what it says about what you are going through. The more you do this, the more you will be touched by the promise itself and then you will find yourself able to rejoice in it and find a new sense of peace.

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