God Speaking

“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)

That beautiful word – overflowing – is often used in Scripture, and often to describe God’s gifts to his loved ones in bountiful crops etc., but the most powerful way it is used, is when the Psalmist’s and other writers use it to somehow capture his love. In Psalm 65, the Psalmist recognises God’s love in his gracious abundance of gifts;

“You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow, the hills are clothed with gladness.” (Psalm 65: 11 – 12)

In the book of Romans, Paul talks about followers of Jesus overflowing with God’s gifts of joy peace and love. The other day I got a wonderful example of how this could happen. I was watering one of my hanging baskets on my balcony when the water overflowed, I wasn’t dismayed, as underneath the basket on the floor, was a huge pot with a plant in it and the water from my basket, already full, splashed down on the plant below nurturing it.

We can do exactly that in our lives when we overflow with God’s love. We can in-turn spread that love to others who may be in desperate need of some joy in their lives, bereft of happiness. Others may need to find peace in a turbulent situation and yet others may need hope when they have given up in despair.

Just as my basket was only able to water the plant below when it was already full, so we too can only overflow into the lives of other if we too are full of the Holy Spirit and seeking God’s will constantly.

In that well-known Psalm of David’s, Psalm 23, he realises that he has walked closely with the Lord to the point that his cup was overflowing with the beautiful realisation that the Lord had filled him with all good things.

“…You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life…” (Psalm 23: 5 – 6)

I was watching a beautiful photo on the television of a fountain, in the middle of a city, and the water flowed endlessly over a commanding statue, over and over. It was fascinating to see that the water splashed below soaking everything in its path. Our lives too can overflow with God’s love the same way if we make sure we are filled with his love. The Psalmists knew how important this is.

“May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees.” (Psalm 119:171)