The Olive Leaf - a symbol of hope

"When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!"
(Genesis 8:11 NIV).

40 days of rain followed by 150 days of floodwater - the end of the world as it had been known at that time. Noah was looking for a sign that the worst was over, that there was hope of a new life to come. The symbol God gave him was a freshly plucked olive leaf in the beak of a dove.

The olive leaf told Noah that there was dry land with new growth. He didn't get to that dry land for many more days but he had hope. He believed God's promise to him.

'Hope doesn't promise an instant solution but rather the possibility of an eventual one' (Max Lucado)

We will experience hardship and difficulties in this life. But we have a symbol of hope in the cross of Jesus Christ, and set into an olive leaf, we are reminded of God's faithfulness throughout the ages and the hope of things to come.

ChristChurch - A community held together by Christ, loving God, supporting one another and bringing hope to the world.