A=B=C=D

             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. (Romans 15:13)

 

            Hope: The conviction that things can and will get better or will not get worse. 

            Joy: The conviction that one is cared for by someone who can.

            Trust: The conviction that someone not only can, but will act in one’s best interest and/or according to their word. At the very least, behavior will be in accordance with what has been previously demonstrated.

            Peace: voluntary submission and agreement

 

            As you read these definitions, I suspect you get one of three responses. The first is dizziness. Round and round and round we go. The second is equality. A=B=C=D. Hope may not be joy, trust, or peace, but if you’re experiencing one, you probably have all four and being without one likely means you’re without the other three. The third response you may have is irritation because we like to think of hope, joy, trust, and peace as emotions, not states. We want to feel but not do or take responsibility for them.

            But the key is that we can’t really pick and choose. We can’t have joy without trust, or hope without peace. And it gets worse because none of them are available, according to this passage, apart from a relationship with the One who can and will do what needs to be done. I may be able to give you a measure of joy or peace, but I’ll fail.

            We sometimes even claim that God fails, but the truth is that when God doesn’t do what we want Him to, and we declare that He’s failed, the failure is on our part, not His.