Verse of the Day for October 16

There is a particular fear that comes with hoping. It is the fear of looking foolish. You told people you were trusting God, and then the thing did not happen, and now you feel small in front of them.

Paul answers that fear directly: hope maketh not ashamed. The hope he is talking about will not leave you red faced at the end. It will not turn out to have been a joke at your expense.

But look at the reason he gives. It is not that every hope comes true on schedule. It is because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Shed abroad means poured out, spilled generously, the way water finds every corner of a jar. The ground of hope is not the outcome. It is a love already given.

And it is given by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. You did not climb up to reach it. It came down to you. People who feel small often think they must grow before God will take them seriously. Paul says the love is already inside, poured in by God himself.

So the next time you sit in a church pew or a staff meeting feeling like the least important person in the room, remember that the love of God was poured into you, not measured out by your size.

Hope in God may be delayed, but it will not be made a fool of.

You do not need to feel large to be full of his love.