They Go Together

“Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 15:5) “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Rom. 15:13)

         Our Heavenly Father is a God of patience and hope. The two go hand-in-glove together. Someone has said, “Lack of patience is a sure sign that hope is weak.” And I would say these verses seem to bolster that assertion. Notice in verse five that an evidence of patience will be “like-mindedness” with others. In other words, when other people fall short of our, and their own, expectations, the first reaction of the patient man or woman will be identification. “Well, I’ve been lax in things myself, at times” (Gal. 6:1). It’s not a matter of excusing, but empathizing. By refusing to isolate those who try our patience, we are more apt to help them overcome any feelings of hopelessness they may be experiencing.

         Is there someone you know who wears thin your patience? Who makes you strip your gears, when you should be idling your motor? Someone over whose head you see a flashing sign, reading, “HOPELESS CASE”? Verse thirteen says the Holy Spirit is able to so fill our hearts with joy and peace that we fairly “abound” in hope. Think about it; the very idea of hope assumes a situation of hopelessness. God never asks us to have hope in any man or woman. In fact He advises just the opposite (Psl. 146:3). But He does encourage us to dare to hope in Him (Psl. 38:15; 42:5,11; 43:5; 71:5).

         “Where there’s life, there’s hope,” goes the old say. Not necessarily. But it is true, “Where there’s God, there’s hope!”