Anticipation is usually viewed as a positive experience. We look towards the future with excitement, anticipating events that are to come with hope. However, anticipation has a close cousin -- anxiety. Sometimes, when we look towards the future our mind wanders into anxious thoughts about negative consequences that might await us. The human body doesn't know the difference between the two. If you are excited, your pupils dilate, your heart rate quickens, and you may start to sweat. In the same way, when you are nervous about the future, your pupils dilate, your heart rate quickens, and you may start to sweat. The subtle difference between excitement and fear is simply our mindset. As people of faith, we have been given thousands of reasons to anticipate a hopeful future. Our mindset can be one of excitement because we know that the future is in God's hands and that in the end all of creation will be reconciled back to God.

" Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

- Hebrews 11:1

As I wait, I trust in you O God. Amen.