Is there someone in your life who just doesn't seem to get rattled? Circumstances come and go, but this person takes them in stride and deals with them calmly, accepting outcomes whatever they may be. How do they stay calm when the world is crashing around them? What's their secret?

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Hope.

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Another word for hope is expectation. In today's passage, Paul says hope fills us with joy and peace. How so? To learn the answer to that, we must start with Jesus Christ:

“It is finished” (Jn. 19:30).

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Jesus uttered these words while nailed to a cross, after accepting the sins of the world, yours and mine, unto himself. In this way, we became reconciled with God. Without this reconciliation, we could not know peace or joy. Mankind has tried to find peace and joy separate from God for millennia. How are we doing? Does the world seem peaceful and joyful to you?

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So how do we experience this peace and joy Paul wishes upon us? The answer is to remember where your focus should be:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19-20).

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We live in a fallen world where moths, vermin, and thieves exist. So don't focus on the world. Focus instead on what God has promised you:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9, NKJV).

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Your Father has prepared a place of such incredible peace and joy, you can't even fathom how wonderful it is. It's called Heaven, and nothing in this world can take that away from you:

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).

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So, trust Him as you deal with the trials of this world. Compared with eternity, your hardship will last but just a little while:

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Pet. 5:10, NIV).

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Finally, you're not going it alone. God has given you a counselor to help navigate the trials of this world:

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5).

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If you're not sure who the Holy Spirit is, think Jesus. You have Jesus dwelling in you, guiding you through life.

So, here is your challenge...accept this gift of grace.

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If you've accepted Christ as your Savior, dive into God's love for you. Hunger for it. Seek it. Have you had a hard day? Open your Bible and start reading. Are you struggling to experience the peace and joy promised by God? Call a friend and pray together. Ask the Holy Spirit within you to guide you toward hope, truth, and light. He will. You can trust He will.

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If you haven't accepted Christ as your Savior, surrender yourself to Him, right now! Open a Bible and read John 3:16, then 1 John 1:5-10. Confess your sins and invite Jesus into your heart. The angels are rejoicing in Heaven as you've just joined the family of Christ. As such, God, through His grace, has given you an inheritance. Delight in the hope – nay, expectation that you will be welcomed into Heaven for eternity. Follow up this first step by attending a church service. Talk to a pastor and explain that you are a new believer. Ask how you can grow your faith from this life-changing first step.

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So be at peace. There's no need to get rattled. Trust in hope. God is infinite. He doesn't change. He keeps His promises. Don't fret the ways of this world, for they are finite. Draw your strength from the expectation that, as a believer in the God of hope, righteousness will prevail:

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13).