When Joshua and the other spies returned from spying the
Promised Land God was giving them, Joshua and Caleb returned to the Israelite
community with an encouraging, yet realistic report. (Numbers 13:26-30) The land was as
wonderful as promised, but, it was
currently inhabited.
However, the account from other eight spies to the
Israelites was a discouraging and frightening report (Numbers 13:31-33), emphasizing that the
inhabitants were much stronger and bigger than they were.
Unfortunately,
between the two reports, the people believed the frightening report and they
now dreaded taking the land God promised them. They were so terrified they were
planning to return to Egypt, where they had spent years as slaves in harsh
bondage. (Numbers 14:1-4)
Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage the now fear-filled
community. (Numbers 14:6-9) They reminded the people
how exceedingly good the land was, how God was giving them that land, and how
they’d swallow up their enemies because God was with them. This was totally
contrary to the bad report the Israelites had heard from the other eight spies.
Though they all were on the same reconnaissance mission, from the two reports
you would have thought that these reports were from two, completely different
territories. It’s amazing what a powerful influence our words have on people.
Truth was, despite what the eight discouraging spies
reported, it wasn’t the inhabitants that were stronger than Israelites. Weren’t
they physically bigger and stronger looking? Yes, but because God was with the
Israelites, it was really the inhabitants of the land that should have been
afraid of the Israelites. However, the bad report blinded the Israelites from
recognizing this truth that Joshua and Caleb had been telling them.
Regardless of how big the inhabitants were, God’s people
would not be the ones swallowed up, they’d be the ones swallowing up anyone who
stood in their way of taking the land He promised. The Israelites had
absolutely no reason to fear, and every reason to take the land with the utmost
confidence. However, because of the bad report the eight spies had given the
people, the Israelites minds remained overwhelmed with anxious thoughts and
“What if….?” scenarios.
Only one thing was holding the Israelite
community from receiving all that God wanted to give them—and it wasn’t the
inhabitants of the land.
As long as the people believed taking the land would
be a dreadful experience, not trusting in the promise, power, and provision of
God, their fears would continue to hold them back from entering into all that
God wanted to give them. Likewise, our fears keep us from taking the ground God
has for us.
When the Lord is with us—empowering us to boldly receive
that which He wants to bless us with, any reservations on our part will always
be totally unwarranted. However, as long as we see our obstacles as something
we must overcome in our limited abilities, we will miss out on all that God
wants to give us.
Whatever obstacles we may be facing today, we can place our
full confidence in the Lord to equip and empower us to overtake any obstacle
that is standing in our way from embracing God’s perfect will for our life. As
we resolve to walk by faith, there’s no telling the incredible blessings God
has in store for us!
💗💗💗
If you were blessed by this article, please leave a comment or share with your friends and family on social media.💖
💕📖💕🖊💕📋
💜📱💜💻
