Hope is powerful. It allows us to go on even when circumstances say there is no real reason to go on. I sense a strong yearning for hope everywhere I go these days.

My favorite Bible story is about Gideon. Many of you know the story. However, let me briefly summarize it. Gideon was a great Hebrew general with 32,000 troops. God, through an angel, told him to go forth and fight the Midianites. Gideon’s position revealed that he was willing to fight but he did not have enough troops because the Midianites had far more. We don’t know how many they had, but it was “a whole host.” God took the position that Gideon had too many troops and directed him to reduce the number.

Gideon began reducing his troops, stopping at 10,000. He could not conceive of fighting the Midianites with less than 10,000 troops. God directed him to reduce his troops some more. Gideon eventually got down to 300 troops. With only three hundred, he knew he had to fight differently. He also knew he needed God’s help so he followed God’s directions to the “T.”

When the odds are great against me, I call upon the spirit of Gideon and find great hope. I know that the story of Gideon springs from events occurring thousands of years ago, but I still find great hope. But there are modern day parallels. When the odds are great against me, I also call upon these recent examples and find great hope.

We still have Midianites who come in all shapes, forms, and sizes: those who wreak injustice on the less powerful; those who oppress the down trodden; those who inflict violence on innocent people; those who destroy lives with illegal drugs; those who mis-educate our children; and those who abuse others on the basis of race, gender, age, ethnicity, class, and economic status.

The question now is do we fight these Midianites differently because we have less political troops? If so, in what ways do we fight? I don’t know the answers to these questions. I do believe that if we communicate among ourselves and listen carefully to the angels in whatever form they come, we will know what to do. I hope we will have the faith to follow the prescriptions provided and go forth and fight. I believe that when we embrace hope with belief and faith, everything becomes possible. Hope is powerful.