When our hope is in Christ we have the courage to trust, obey and follow Him. We daily have opportunities to walk in the hope of God’s love and His promises for our lives or to be distracted by the circumstances that we don’t understand and can’t control. Number 13 tells us about the 12 spies that were sent to spy out the Promised Land before Israel entered in. Ten of those spies returned and announced that the land was good, it was fruitful and it was everything God had promised, but those good things were not enough to keep them from putting their attention on the obstacles they saw. They reported that the cities were large and fortified, that the armies were strong and that there were even giants in the land. Ten of those spies determined that while the land was what God had promised, the obstacles were too large, they could not go in and possess the land.

Joshua and Caleb, the other two spies saw the exact same things but they put their attention on the promises and goodness of God rather than the obstacles. They were adamant, not that  there were no obstacles but rather that God would overcome the obstacles for them. Our lives will be filled with moments like these, moments in which we have to decide if we will trust and hope in God’s greatness or succumb to our fear and the circumstances around us. Hope gives us the strength to risk difficulty and hardship knowing that God will do what He has said He would do.

I pray today that we will remember these three things about hope and walk forward into being risk-takers for the Kingdom of God:

1. Hope starts with a promise

2. Hope is always tested

3. Hope always produces a reward

Don’t shrink back today, don’t give up and don’t live in fear or safety; hope in God, trust in His love and step out in faith. There is a risk to be taken for the Kingdom of God and there is a reward to be reaped through obedience. “Hope does not disappoint.”