Devotion 6 Hope Through Comfort of the Scriptures
Romans 15:4 – “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
The Bible was written to teach us and through the Scriptures, we can find hope, patience, endurance and encouragement. It equips us to endure, first, by teaching us about the character of God. The Bible points us to a God who is powerful, wise, good, gracious, compassionate, merciful and loving. He is a God who finishes what He started and will not desert those who sincerely seek Him. When times are difficult and bewildering, and situations seem perplexed and unsettling, the Scriptures give us strength to hang on because we can be confident of whom we are hanging on to. By pointing to the character, strength, and reliability of God, it gives us hope to hang on.
However, in this passage, Paul is likely referring to only the Old Testament Scriptures as they were the only scripture he knew, and he was probably also assuming that the people he taught were familiar with its stories and teachings. And thus, it is safe to say that without a basic grasp of the Old Testament, it is difficult for us to get hope from the comfort of Scriptures.
Sadly, many Christians do not spend enough time reading the Old Testament. Without the Old Testament, we lack a major part of God’s revelation of His nature and character. Hence, it is vital that we give ourselves diligently to the reading of the Old Testament Scriptures, and we need to keep working at it, prayerfully reading it through over and over because it is God’s written revelation to us. The result is that we might have hope and we all need hope!
Patience
Many stories in the Old Testament demonstrate examples of perseverance and they encourage us to persevere through our trials.
As we read in the Scriptures about how Abraham persevered in faith for over 25 years before God fulfilled His promise of a son, and how he died in faith without owning any part of the Promised Land, except for a burial plot, our faith is strengthened to endure through times when God does not immediately answer our prayers. Or as we read the story of Joseph in prison, falsely accused of a crime he did not commit, but how God eventually worked it out for his good and sovereign purpose, it encourages us to trust God when we have been maligned and misunderstood by others. As we learn of how David cried out to God when pursued by enemies who were trying to kill him, we learn how to take our own problems to the Lord and to praise Him in the midst of those problems.
Encouragement
The Old Testament also gives us lots of encouragement as it reveals to us the character and nature of God and how He deals with fallen sinners. In one of the first revelations of Himself, God proclaimed to Moses that He is, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin…” (Ex.34:6-7). This description was repeated again and again throughout the Old Testament and we can see how the Lord dealt graciously with imperfect sinners who made some terrible mistakes – Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, and others – and it gives us great encouragement that He will also be gracious to us when we fail.
Hope
Reading the Old Testament should give us hope because it shows us that despite our trials, despite what seems like unanswered prayers, despite years of waiting on God without seeing any changes in our circumstances, God is faithful to His promise. This means if we are not reading the Old Testament, we are missing a major source of hope in the midst our trials.
We now live in an era where we have the privilege of both the Old and New Testaments. Through the remarkable examples of patience exhibited by the saints of the Old and New Testaments, we should get greater comfort and encouragement from the scriptures, which should help build greater faith and hope.
If you have ever been to any National Park, you would probably have seen a warning sign at the entrance with big letters, “Do Not Feed the animals”. This is to prevent the animals from becoming dependent on visitors to feed them, and subsequently losing their ability to hunt for food. Many animals have died when there are no visitors to feed them. Despite the warning, you can still see people feeding the animals.
That's what's happening to us! Many Christians are so used to people feeding us with the word that we are losing the ability, hunger or diligence to read the Bible on our own. Hence, many do not know the Scripture enough to derive strength and comfort from it and to find hope.
Jn.14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
The Bible is full of stories of God’s faithfulness, power and miracles. Through these stories, we see how God achieved great and mighty things in these heroes of faith. By meditating on this, it can greatly encourage and strengthen us in the Lord. The problem is that we are not familiar with many of these stories. We need to be very familiar with the stories in the Bible so that the Holy Spirit can use them to bring hope and encouragement to us in times of despair. For the Holy Spirit to bring to our remembrance, we must first know it.