Giants and Grasshoppers

Approximately 3 years after the Israelites left Egypt, they arrived at the land which God had promised them. Moses sent 12 men to go and SEE the land and bring a report on how they are to take possession of it. The question to ponder is:

• What did they see; and
• How did they process what they saw?

Remember, all 12 saw the same opportunities (blessings) and the same challenges (barriers), yet their reports were completely different.

10 of the spies reported the facts and reality of what they saw: 

• Milk and honey, BUT strong men, large and fortified cities and of course, giants.

Their facts may have been accurate, but notice how they process the facts relating to the giants:

        “…we were like grasshoppers in our OWN SIGHT, and so we were in THEIR SIGHT” (Num 13:33).

What did they see? Giant challenges.

How did they process these facts? “We are in inadequate and incapable to take hold of what God had promised.”

Interesting to note that they also stated how the giants saw them! And how did they know that? Did they ask them? Or did they just assume that the giants saw them as inadequate because that’s how they saw themselves? The 10 spies allowed the facts and realities of what they saw, to shape their thoughts and emotions. But what was the truth? Unfortunately, it was only their descendants who discovered the truth approximately 40 years later. In Joshua 2, Rahab gives a description of what the inhabitants of the Promised land actually believed for many years about the Israelites and their God. They did not see them as grasshoppers, instead they feared them and they had no courage to face them. And why was that?  Because they heard what GOD had accomplished for and through the Israelites when He got them through the Red Sea and delivered them from the Amorites. Unfortunately, the 10 spies processed the facts they faced by believing that they were grasshoppers when in fact they were the giants because of who their God was.

Its hugely significant how we process the facts and realities around us. 

It’s the most natural thing to see the giant challenges facing our economy, maybe the uncertainty of our own jobs, the limited resources of our health sector, the uphill battle for the education system. The fact is, we will see GIANTS ahead. But will these giants define us and our future? Or will we learn to not let the facts and realities be the only determining factor to decide how we think and respond about what lies ahead.

Joshua and Caleb, the other two spies, saw the facts and saw it in light of who their God was. God came out bigger, stronger and more reliable.  For that reason, they choose to have faith in Him.

When we face the realities of the various spaces we operate in, we have a choice to react with fear or with faith. Faith does not increase because the facts are favorable, but rather from a heart that has been changed to see God for who HE is. We need to process the facts against God’s promises and his character. Your financial situation, health or your child’s future might look bleak if you merely consider the facts. But checked against the overwhelming evidence of God’s power and goodness throughout scripture, we get to choose to face our facts with faith in the God who says: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Joshua 1:5).