Overflowing with Hope

 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy…”

—Romans 15:13a

Normally the word “overflow” carries an ominously negative connotation.

One summer’s evening in 1963 at about 9:20, the family who lived next door arrived home from a weekend trip. As soon as the wife opened the front door to her rented home, she let out a blood-curdling scream.

My dad and I bounded off the front porch and ran next door to see what was wrong. When we reached the front hallway we saw a collapsed ceiling and water everywhere.

It was later discovered that the cold water tap in the upstairs bathroom sink had a small leak—about one drop every two seconds. Unfortunately, a small piece of paper that had once wrapped a hair ribbon had fallen into the drain and blocked the trap below the sink.

Over the course of the 60 hours the family had been away, that slow drip...drip...drip had filled the sink, overflowed onto the floor, filled the upstairs floor with a layer of water that had then flowed down through the floor and eventually collapsed the ceiling of the first floor. A stretch of continuous vinyl flooring had stopped the water from flowing into the basement.

Since that long-ago night, I have never heard or read the word “overflow” without thinking about this tragic incident. But. for Christians, the word “overflow” can have a gloriously positive meaning. For example, please read these words of the Apostle Paul from Romans 15:13:

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.

In this benediction, Paul gives the Christ-ones in Rome something to welcome into their daily lives. And, Paul writes these same words to us today.

Let us begin this new day full of God-given joy and peace. Let us welcome the reality of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And, let us bask in the hope that God has placed in our hearts.

 

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