Filled with HOPE – Romans 15:13

JOY has been my Word from the Lord for quite a few years.  You look around my house and you will find JOY knickknacks everywhere you look.  I love JOY!   I used to think it was because God was telling me I needed to have more of it in my life – that I was lacking this fundamental Fruit of the Spirit, but then one day He shed light and told me that I actually am JOY!  That changed my thoughts from a woman striving for something unattainable to a woman who could finally embrace who she was in HIM and share it generously with others!

Now that 2016 is drawing to a close, I’ve been praying over if it was time to find a new Word from the Lord.  I played around with some like “Peace”, “Steadfast” & even “Hope”, but none jumped out at me as THE WORD to carry with me in 2017.  That is until December 12, 2016, when my husband went to the ER because he could not swallow food any longer and after many tests he was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer.  Whoa!  What a true test of JOY, right?  I have to admit, the word “Sh*t” was the first thing out of my mouth when the GI Doctor told me the news, but after crying with my husband, we determined that JOY is what we would share with others who join us on this journey.  So, here were were back with the word JOY, yet I still felt that I needed a new Word from the Lord, too.

I prayed for two days for Him to give me a verse and one afternoon in the hospital room, I was looking out the window and reminding God (you know how He needs those reminders because He might’ve forgotten our requests) that I was waiting on a verse when the numbers fifteen and thirteen came into my  mind.  I thanked God for the numbers, but asked Him if I might have a name of the book those numbers were coming from.  He then filled my mind with “Romans”.  I excitedly got the Gideon’s Bible from the shelf and located Romans 15:13 to find out if it was a real verse or if it was just some genealogical facts and I was pleasantly surprised when I found this:

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.

I felt instant comfort when I read it and knew it was meant for Eric and myself because it has the Word I was coming from, JOY,  and the word I was mulling over “Peace” and the new word we would need on this journey, “Hope“.  So for three days I was sharing this verse with every visitor that came through our hospital room and how God gave it to us, but God wasn’t done with confirming it’s relevance in our life yet.

That Friday (12/16), my dear, sweet friend, Sister Linda (McNally) asked me to come to church so she could place in my hands a Love Gift.  During this special “pit stop” where she mothered me and let me cry and shared her own cancer survivor journey with her son, I was able to tell her about how God had given me Romans 15:13.  After she let me spill out everything, she blessed me with a small gift bag which contained an ornament with the words “Filled with Hope”!  I was so excited to have the word HOPE to hold on to like I had prayed for earlier in the week.  Sister Linda then asked me to to flip it over and when I did I almost say a curse word in church ya’ll!  On the other side of this ornament was the engraved verse of Romans 15:13!  Shut the Front Door, right?!?!  We both were in tears at the beauty of God using her to confirm that this was our verse on this journey to remind us we will OVERFLOW WITH HOPE in 2017.

As if that wasn’t enough, God has shown me Romans 15:13 in the unlikeliest places to remind me He is with us through the Power of the Holy Spirit and yesterday (12/28) I had gone to Lifeway Christian on Broad Street to look for a certain book and ended up in the  Bibles section.  I had started Bible Art Journaling a year ago, so I was “drawn” to a new one and when I opened the box, the inside cover had on it..you guessed it…Romans 15:13!!!!  I just had to buy it, right!  This will be the Bible I carry with me to every treatment and where I will document all of the verses God gives us to carry us along on this journey.

GOD IS SO GOOD…ALL OF THE TIME!!!

Remember, to look for how God is at work around you my friends…because He is definitely working right next to you and wants you to see Him!

Choosing Joy, Peace and HOPE today!

Lisa (& Eric & Gabe)