| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Resilience” Our Bible verse for today: “Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!” Numbers 13:30 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Hope gives us confidence” This morning I want to return to our thought from yesterday regarding hope and the fact that hope is more than just optimism because it is rooted in something deeper. Optimism involves having a positive outlook and living with the expectation of good things to come. “Hope”, as used in the Bible, is one step beyond optimism because it is rooted in faith and trust in God. Caleb and Joshua had that kind of hope. That’s what we read about in Numbers chapter thirteen. Twelve spies had been sent out by Moses to survey the Promised Land and to bring back a report. What they discovered was exactly what God had promised – it was a beautiful land filled with promise and great potential. It was everything God said it would be, and more. But there was a problem. The people living in the land were big and strong and well-armed. Ten of the spies returned afraid and unwilling to go forward. They said, “We seemed like grasshoppers compared to them!” Caleb and Joshua saw the same thing, but from a different perspective. While the ten saw the challenge and they panicked, Caleb and Joshua saw the promise and they rejoiced. The ten were focused on the size of their enemies, Caleb and Joshua were focused on the size of their God. The ten had fear, Caleb and Joshua had hope – hope in the Biblical sense of strong faith and full trust in God. Theirs was the eager expectation of good things to come. It was optimism plus God. Hope gives us confidence as we look to the future. Strong faith and full trust in God help us to see the promise rather than the problems. Resilient people live with hope and therefore resilient people live with confidence. As you gather with your church family for worship tomorrow, I encourage you to do so with a great sense of hope – celebrating your faith and trust in Almighty God. We live in tough times right now and there are some challenges in front of us, but God is bigger than our challenges. So, we can face the future with confidence and with the eager expectation of good things to come. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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