Who are you looking to when life gets loud? In this message, Pastor Paul Hohman teaches from Psalm 46 and the report of the spies in Numbers 13 that the people who see God move are the ones who look to Him as their refuge and strength, not to their circumstances. He calls every believer to take the step of faith God asks of them quickly, speak with courage and let God be God in their life.
Along the way he retells how Moses faced Pharaoh and the Red Sea, how Caleb answered a bad report about the promised land, and how Elisha’s servant had his eyes opened. Below you will find the full video, a structured summary, every passage linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway, a timestamped outline and practical steps for this week.
Sermon at a Glance
Pastor Paul Hohman opens in prayer and then gives his title twice: who are you looking to? None of us asked to be here in this life, he says, yet here we are, so the real question is what we will do with the time God has given us. His answer runs through the whole message: look to God as your refuge and strength, and take the step of faith He asks of you.
He builds the sermon on Psalm 46:1, a verse he has been meditating on for months, and on the story of the spies sent into Canaan. It ends with an invitation to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and a prayer against fear for everyone listening in the room, online and by radio.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Speaker | Pastor Paul Hohman |
| Series | Standalone message (Word of the Day) |
| Main text | Psalm 46 and Numbers 13 |
| Key theme | Looking to God, not circumstances, and acting on faith with courage |
| Length | About 52 minutes, ending in prayer |
God Has a Plan for Your Life: Good Ideas and God Ideas
The Bible says to redeem the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). In this fallen world, Pastor Paul explains, Satan works to make believers stumble, grumble, complain and look to the bad. That is why God has given us His Word, and in it each person discovers a purpose and a plan.
You might not be called into the five-fold ministry, and that is okay. God still wants you to have great influence where you are. Bloom where you are planted, he says: let God be God in your home, workplace and neighborhood, and let your light so shine before men (Matthew 5:16). He has the church say together, “God has a plan for my life.”
If we are just trying to get through the day, we are selling God short. The Creator of the sun, moon and stars breathed His breath of life into us. “He chose you specifically for such a time as this.” So many times we try in our own strength and stumble. “There’s good ideas and then there’s God ideas,” Pastor Paul says, and a God idea often stretches us beyond the faith we have right now.
He asks the church to imagine Noah hearing God say to build an ark when it had never rained on the earth before. Sometimes God ideas can seem like an ark to us. But “God wants us to walk in his strength and his ability as opposed to just our own.” When he takes a step of faith into the place where God can be God, the Lord commands blessing. The world says that will never happen because it does not know who its God is, yet God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
Faith That Pleases God and a Very Present Help
How does God be God? He uses His sons and daughters. The Bible says, “He who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30), so Pastor Paul keeps sharing his faith, even with the same people over and over, because it may be that one time. Whatever you sow, you will reap, so keep sowing to the Spirit (Galatians 6:7–8).
Faith also needs right priorities. It is easy to say you have faith for a million dollars, but you still have to take a step of faith and seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). When priorities slip, we start asking God why nothing is happening. “Has God changed? No. It’s us.” Who are you looking to?
He reads Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” God is not a puppet master; He gave us free will, which is why He wants our hearts given over to Him, not religious duty. Every step of faith is how we please and honor our Father.
“God’s not looking for excuses,” Pastor Paul says. He is looking for the willing and obedient, who will eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). As a kindergarten teacher, he knows how easy it is to nod and say okay every day. Saying yes is not enough; we have to walk in it.
This brings him to his text, Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” God is our refuge from the storms of life and our strength when we feel weak. “Don’t settle for just okay.” When God shows up and shows off, you know it, but you have to take that step of faith and allow God to be your refuge and strength.
Moses and the Red Sea: Act When God Speaks
The Israelites were bound in Egypt for years, whipped and beaten, crying out for Jehovah to set them free. God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go, and Moses came up with every excuse under the sun: Are You sure You have the right person? I stutter. It has to be somebody else. How many times, Pastor Paul asks, have we done the same when God prompted us at a grocery store or a gas pump to encourage someone?
That is what a step of faith does: it takes us out of our element, our strength and our ability. “God wants to be God in your life, but we have to let him.” Pharaoh said no time and time again, yet when God gives a command we do not stop or grow weary, because greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). God sent plagues until Pharaoh let some three million people go.
Then they reached the Red Sea and saw Pharaoh’s army coming. Moses had seen God be God every time he took a step of faith, so he went back to God, stuck between a rock and a hard place. In Pastor Paul’s retelling, God’s instruction was simple: take your staff to the water and watch what I will do. “I’m not sure why we’re playing with sticks right now.” When God tells us to do something, “we need to act and act quickly.”
The waters parted and they walked across on dry ground (Exodus 14:21–22). Israel was now free, or were they? “They never changed their mentality,” even after manna and quail fell from heaven, and it took forty years for that mindset to pass. In Jesus it is different: whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36).
Who Are You Looking To? Caleb and the Spies
Pastor Paul reads Numbers 13:1–3, where the Lord told Moses to send a leader from each tribe to spy out Canaan. He imagines the excitement: this is the land God promised, God is finally going to do it. In Numbers 13:17–20, Moses sent them to see whether the people were strong or weak and the land good or bad, told them to be of good courage and asked them to bring back fruit.
The report in Numbers 13:27–33 began well: the land truly flows with milk and honey, and the grapes were so massive that two men carried them on a pole. Then came the word nevertheless. The cities were fortified, and they had seen the giants. The other spies said “we were like grasshoppers in our own sight,” choosing to see all of the bad instead of what God had blessed them with.
| Question | The other spies | Caleb |
|---|---|---|
| What did they see? | Strong people, fortified cities and giants | The same land, the same fruit and the same giants |
| Who were they looking to? | Their circumstances and their own strength | God and His promise to give them the land |
| What did they say? | We are not able; we were like grasshoppers | Let us go up at once; we are well able |
| What did they do? | Spread a bad report and held back | Quieted the doubt and urged a quick step of faith |
So, who are you looking to? The author and finisher of your faith, the lifter of your head, or the circumstances around you: struggling families, trouble at work, relationships in disarray? Remember who your God is, Pastor Paul urges. He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who supplies all of our needs, and Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals us.
Three Lessons From Caleb in Numbers 13:30
Caleb saw what the others saw, but he did not see the way they saw, because he knew who his God was. Pastor Paul finds three points in Numbers 13:30: “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.'”
First, Caleb quieted the people because they were speaking doubt and unbelief. “I can’t have a steady diet of negativity,” Pastor Paul says; it drains the energy God has given. “I’m not the sin police,” he adds, but if he hears doubt in the church, he will ask, who’s your God? God has called this church to Merrill, Wisconsin, in the Northwoods, as the land He has promised.
Second, Caleb said go up at once. Christians can get super spiritual about what God already asked: let me pray about that. God told you to do it, and He is not going to change His mind. As Dr. Hohman puts it, you cannot strong-arm God by saying it is just not my time yet. When we drag our feet, Satan reminds us of every past failure. But the past is past; what you can do right now is take that step of faith.
Third, Caleb said we are well able. “Caleb chose not to just think with courage, he spoke with courage.” Delays may come, but “faith’s confession will ultimately bring victory to the one who believes.” Faith without works is dead (James 2:20), so the church must put action to its faith. That is what leaders do.
He adds a warning: “If we’re not allowing God to be God in our life and we’re not influencing others around us, then you can be sure that the others around us are influencing us.” So he refuses to speak negatively about his community. Who are you looking to, and who is influencing you? Let’s not be like those other spies, he says. Let’s be like Caleb.
Psalm 46: Be Still, Fear Not and Run to the Father
Back in Psalm 46:1–3, God is our refuge and strength, therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed. Pastor Paul explains Selah as stop and think about it, and he loves that God is a “very present help, not past help.” He was a help at the start of the service, in the middle and after it ends.
When God is on the inside of us, God is love, and perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). It is like turning the light on so there is no darkness. Who are you looking to when fear knocks? Look to your refuge and strength. In Psalm 46:6–7 the nations raged, but the Lord of hosts is with us. Does God ever leave us? No. Then why should I fear?
Then Psalm 46:10–11: “Be still, and know that I am God.” We can take in so much negativity on social media that it pulls the life of God out of us. What did Caleb say? Stop talking. Shut it off. “You’re not an accident. You’re not a screw-up. You’re not a mistake.” Choose to be of good courage and take your step of faith quickly.
He recalls Elisha and his servant waking up surrounded by an army (2 Kings 6:15–17). Elisha chose to fear not, holding on to the promise that more are with us than with them, and Pastor Paul ties it to the Lord as our shepherd (Psalm 23). God opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw the angels.
He closes with a devotional about children running to a parent in a thunderstorm instead of trying to be brave. “Psalms 46:1 doesn’t tell us to be strong. It tells us who our strength is.” “You’re never too grown up to run to your father.” “Quit looking at the mistakes and look to God.” Then he shares his testimony: “I shouldn’t be here today, but I am because I chose to lay a hold of the promises that God has given to me.”
Living It Out This Week
Pastor Paul prays that God would help every listener in every circumstance, relationship and household. Here are practical steps from this message:
- Ask who you are looking to. When pressure comes, ask whether you are looking at your circumstances or at God, your refuge and strength.
- Meditate on Psalm 46:1. Remember the times God has been your refuge and strength, and thank Him that He is a very present help today.
- Take the step of faith quickly. When He prompts you to talk to someone, give or encourage, do not stall by praying about what He already said.
- Quiet the doubt. Limit the steady diet of negativity you take in from conversations, news and social media.
- Speak with courage. Confess God’s promises out loud over your family, workplace and church, as Caleb did.
- Run to your Father. Take off the brave face and bring your troubles to God like a child.
Timestamped Outline
- 0:00 Opening prayer: who are you looking to?
- 1:01 Redeem the time and bloom where you’re planted
- 2:01 Chosen for such a time as this
- 3:03 Good ideas, God ideas and Noah’s ark
- 6:06 He who wins souls is wise
- 7:07 Seek first the kingdom of God
- 8:07 Hebrews 11:6: without faith
- 10:10 Willing and obedient
- 11:10 Psalm 46:1: our refuge and strength
- 13:13 Israel in Egypt and God sends Moses
- 16:20 Trapped at the Red Sea
- 17:22 The staff and the water
- 19:28 Free, but the same mentality
- 20:28 Numbers 13: spies sent into Canaan
- 23:31 Milk and honey, but giants
- 24:33 Caleb and the bad report
- 25:33 Remember who your God is
- 26:33 Three points in verse 30
- 29:41 Go up at once
- 33:49 Well able: speaking with courage
- 36:54 Psalm 46:1–3: a very present help
- 41:01 Be still and know that I am God
- 43:03 Elisha and his servant surrounded
- 49:10 Invitation and prayer of salvation
More From Pastor Paul Hohman
If this message encouraged you, Pastor Paul has preached other messages on faith, courage and hope in Christ. Continue with Let’s Go Fishing (Pastor Paul Hohman), Don’t Lose Heart (Pastor Paul Hohman) and Our Hope in Jesus (Pastor Paul Hohman).
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Selah mean in Psalm 46?
Pastor Paul explains Selah as a word that appears often in the Psalms and means, in effect, stop and think about it. When he pauses on Psalm 46, he thinks about how God is his refuge, how he is safe under the shadow of the Almighty and how God is his strength when he feels weak. Pausing like this helps him remember all the good things God has already done in his family, workplace and neighborhood.
What if my family is hard to be around?
Pastor Paul acknowledges that some people have a hard time getting through Easter, Christmas and birthdays with family. Even so, God gave you that family; they are a blessing and a gift, and you are part of it by design. Do not despise the gifts God has given you. He points to the promise, as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15), and encourages those believing for family members to be saved to claim it.
How can I receive Jesus as Lord and Savior?
At the end of the message, Pastor Paul invites anyone who has never experienced God’s presence to receive Jesus Christ. If we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, we will be saved (Romans 10:9). He calls it a step of faith to take quickly, then leads a prayer asking forgiveness, surrendering to Jesus as Lord and receiving Him from this day forward. He also declares that God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7).
Scripture References
All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:
- Psalm 46:1–3 — God is our refuge and strength
- Psalm 46:10–11 — be still and know that I am God
- Numbers 13:27–33 — the spies’ report
- Numbers 13:30 — we are well able to overcome it
- Hebrews 11:6 — without faith it is impossible to please Him
- Matthew 6:33 — seek first the kingdom of God
- Isaiah 1:19 — willing and obedient
- Exodus 14:21–22 — dry ground through the sea
- 2 Kings 6:15–17 — Elisha’s servant sees the army of God
- 2 Timothy 1:7 — not a spirit of fear
How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.
Watch More Messages
If this message helped you look to God again, there are many more teachings from NTC Ministries to strengthen your faith. Browse the full sermon archive and keep looking to the One who is your refuge and strength.
