We Shall Overcome, In Spite Of Our Relatives And Friends!

"Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it"(Numbers 13:30 KJV); "If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

The brooders are the losers. In that passage of faith in the book of Numbers, and fright of numbers, Caleb dares to go against the majority and declare that the land is theirs if they act right away. He wasn't about to give in to the pessimists who saw only the giants. God had already promised them the land anyway: "The Lord said to Moses, `Send guys to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.'" The others walked by sight, Caleb by faith. The land that "does flow with milk and honey…!" (v.27) suddenly, through fear, became a land that "devours those living in it." (v.32). "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Numbers 13:33).

The more they thought about it, the more they perceived themselves to be grasshoppers. They saw the same land as did Joshua and Caleb, but they did not see the opportunities. Their "grasshopper" mentality stopped them short of possession. God promised, and "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14).

I guess one of the most universal and constant problems is in the comment: “They brought an evil report” (v.32). How many persons have been stopped in their rightful ambitions and goals by another who sees only the giants or gnats of this or that? They only see the briars of life, and are so ready to skewer others on their imaginary hang-ups! What is menacing about constant pessimism is that it puts negative ideas in others’ heads. I have a relative who periodically reminds me not to wreck the car when I’m heading out. Amazing! Personally, I’d be more inclined to warn, “Watch the other drivers!”

When God tells us plainly what our duty is through circumstances and people, then we are foolish to dwell on what we perceive to be difficulties and certainly not to listen to the nay-sayers and they-sayers. He has promised to cover our problems. Through prayer and faith, we can translate our grasshopper mentality into the mind of Christ with all the potentials that are ours, through the magnanimous grace of God. He wants us to see life in His light of possibilities. After all, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:6).