Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
In the 1950s, a Harvard psychologist named Dr. Curt Richter conducted a now-famous experiment involving rats and buckets of water. At first glance, it was a grim study, but a profound truth about the human spirit was buried within it.
In his initial test, Richter placed rats in water to see how long they could swim before giving up. On average, they lasted just 15 minutes before succumbing to exhaustion. But then something remarkable happened, he added the possibility of hope to see the results.
Just before the rats were about to drown, Richter would reach in, pull them out, dry them off, let them rest, and then return them to the water.
And this time?
They didn’t just swim another 15 minutes.
They lasted hours with one rat that continued to swim for an astonishing 60 hours.
What changed? Richter concluded “the rats quickly learn that the situation is not actually hopeless” and that “after elimination of hopelessness the rats do not die.”
Because they had been rescued once, the rats now believed they might be rescued again—and that hope gave them the strength to endure far beyond what they were capable of before.
Let that settle in your heart for a moment: hope kept them swimming.
If hope can keep a tired rat going for 60 hours, imagine what hope in God can do in your life.
Difficult seasons are inevitable. But the crushing weight of hopelessness is far more dangerous than hardship itself.
Hope doesn’t deny the difficulty — it gives us strength in the middle of it. It lifts our eyes off the storm and fixes them on the Savior. And sometimes, that small flicker of hope is all we need to keep swimming.
That’s why Scripture reminds us that the God of hope is able to fill us with joy and peace as we trust in Him—so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can overflow with hope even in the hardest moments.
Perhaps you feel like you’re treading water, moments from going under. Maybe someone close to you is silently struggling to stay afloat. Never underestimate the power of hope, especially the kind rooted in Yeshua (Jesus). It can carry you further than you ever imagined.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]We found an interesting story in an old copy of “Our Daily Bread”: In 1883 in Allentown, New Jersey, a wooden Indian — the kind that was seen in front of cigar stores — was placed on the ballot for Justice of the Peace. The candidate was registered under the fictitious name of Abner Robbins. When the ballots were counted, Abner won over incumbent Sam Davis by 7 votes. A similar thing happened in 1938. The name Boston Curtis appeared on the ballot for Republican Committeeman from Wilton, Washington. Actually, Boston Curtis was a mule. The town’s mayor sponsored the animal to demonstrate that people know very little about the candidates. He proved his point. The mule won!
You may recall a few months ago we sent out an unspoken prayer request on behalf of the ministry without giving any details. At the time, among many other things going on, we went in for an ultrasound and the doctor told us that he wasn’t able to see a nose bone. He went on to say that this was a likely indication that the baby had Downs Syndrome and strongly suggested we get some tests done. When Rivka politely told him that we wouldn’t need any tests and that even if the baby did have Downs, he is a gift from God and there was no way we would abort him, the doctor was taken aback. He insisted that we would be causing an injustice to allow a baby to be born with a defect such as this. And believe it or not, two other doctors agreed.
At any time, how receptive your heart is will determine your response to God’s word. If your heart has been trampled, and harden by bitterness and unforgiveness, then receiving God’s message for you will become more difficult. If your heart is like shallow soil on top of a rock, then your mind comprehends God’s truths, yet these truths do not penetrate your heart to make a real difference in your actions. Or if you are concerned about the riches of this life, then your focus is on the here and now, and these pursuits prevent God’s Word from taking hold and producing quality fruit. But a heart that is on good soil, receives the Word, applies the Word, and in due time bring forth abundant fruit! This is God’s desire for you — to have a heart cultivated on good soil!
For those of you who didn’t get that title, it’s a well known children’s Suzuki violin rhythm.
Not long ago, I came across an old issue of Homemade, where Dr. Ernest Mellor writes on fostering good relationships. This is so good I had to share.
Some of the wealthiest individuals in the United States are real estate developers. They make their money by buying a piece of property that is terribly run down, seemingly useless, without any value to the naked eye and reforming it completely, making it look brand new! These businessmen are not as much interested in what is on the property as they are interested in the land it’s on!
A sailor who was shipwrecked on a desert island was captured by some of the natives of that island. They carried him off on their shoulders to their village, where he was sure he would end up being the main course. But instead, they put a crown on his head and made him king. He was enjoying all the attention he was receiving but was growing a little suspicious. He started making inquiries and discovered that their custom was to crown a stranger king for a year and at the end of that year the crowned king would be sent to a deserted island where he was allowed to starve to death.
With war drums beating even more intensely in Iran and Syria, we’ve received numerous phone calls and emails expressing their concerns — and understandably so! Nevertheless, even in this climate of anxiety, we are preparing to enter into Shabbat (the Hebrew word for Sabbath) this afternoon. And as we do, we are remembering again, the deep lesson of God’s entering into His rest following the six creation days.