Scripture:
“After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: ‘We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.’
But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. ‘Let’s go at once to take the land,’ he said. ‘We can certainly conquer it!’
But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. ‘We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!’ So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: ‘The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too’!” Numbers 13:25-33 (NLT)
Perspective:
Moses sent out a leader from each tribe to explore the land God was giving to the people. God had already told them He was going to give it to them. This trip was meant to be exploratory so that the people would have an idea of the layout of the land. Forty days passed as the people waited and waited for the men to return. The men returned with produce and reported about the abundance in the land. Yet, right in the middle of their report, the tide began to shift. Yes, there were many blessing awaiting them in the Promised Land, but it did not compare to the powerful people living in the land. The people were too big, too strong, and too many. Yet, Caleb was looking at his future through a different lens. Caleb tried to persuade the people, but the negative perspective from the majority of the men convinced the people to not move forward. The people of Israel trusted these men, because they had already been where they were supposed to go. Yet, the words from these leaders in Israel caused them to miss a lifetime of blessing by seeing the barriers as bigger than God.
What we say about where we are going has a direct impact on getting there. If we choose to speak words of doubt, we can’t expect to walk in faith. How you choose to face your future will also directly impact those around you. Your friends, families, and co-workers will see if you choose to believe God despite obstacles before you. We can claim that we are just being realistic and that our words don’t hold any weight. Faith doesn’t ignore the circumstances, but it doesn’t let current realities define the future. What words are you spreading about your future? What we say becomes what we believe. If we change our conversation to reflect God’s ability to work in our lives, the focus of our lives begins to shift away from what we can’t do to what God can do. Don’t miss the future promises God wants to fulfill in your life by focusing on the obstacles to get there. If God said He will give you the land as He had promised the Israelites, then believe Him to fulfill His word in your life without overshadowing your faith with words of doubt. Take hold of the promises.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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About Hona Amer
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