An intriguing balance exists as we embrace our role in God's work. It is very easy to find ourselves tending to think God's plan and the fulfilment of His promises depends on us. When we tilt this balance to our efforts, it exposes our limitations. It makes obeying God an imposing task because we recognise we are being asked to do something we cannot.
An example of this is seen after God miraculously brought His people out of Egypt. He promised to give them an exceedingly good land, one "flowing with milk and honey." God had given the land to His people, but there was one big problem (at least to people who did not trust God): the land was inhabited by strong people in fortified cities. God had given the land to His people, and their role was to enter in and possess the land. Naturally the people thought it fell to them to "take" the land, and did not believe they had the ability to defeat their giant foes. They compared their strength to others, found it lacking, and suddenly slavery in Egypt started looking good.
The fact is, they didn't have the ability to take the land - not by themselves, anyway. Based on the size of giants they saw they compared their attempts to fight as grasshoppers against men, and they identified with grasshoppers easily crushed underfoot. The vast majority of the people did not bring the power, the promise, or their past deliverance to bear on the predicament which lay before them. This is a mistake we can make as well, thinking our entrance to the inheritance God has allotted depends on our strength or natural ability. Faith in God proves giants to actually be as grasshoppers (which were on the menu for the Jews, by the way), and only those who trust and obey God will experience this for themselves. Many people stop short of the grace of God and do not possess the gifts or activate the calling He has placed upon their lives because they do not trust Him enough to acknowledge their own weakness and simply obey Him by entering in.
Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes in grief and urged the people to consider God and not be afraid. They said in Numbers 14:8-9, "If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey.' 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them." God had given His people land with defined borders, and this is a picture of the inheritance God has for us in this life, a fruitful and blessed future for all who are born again. He puts His Spirit within us because He delights in us by His grace. Caleb and Joshua were right to say God would bring them into the land and give it to them, but at the same time they needed to walk on their own two feet. God will be with us, even as He was with them. If God tells us to enter in, through His strength we can.
When you face struggles in this life as a Christian, don't forget to remember and strengthen yourself in the promises of God. What He has said He will do. Those giants in your life are as fearsome as a loaf of bread before our mighty God and Saviour Jesus Christ. The LORD is truly with us and we need not fear them. You may not be a "fighter" and feel ill-equipped for the journey ahead, yet since God is for us who can be against us? It's we who fail to trust God. Isaiah 40:28-29 says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength."
An example of this is seen after God miraculously brought His people out of Egypt. He promised to give them an exceedingly good land, one "flowing with milk and honey." God had given the land to His people, but there was one big problem (at least to people who did not trust God): the land was inhabited by strong people in fortified cities. God had given the land to His people, and their role was to enter in and possess the land. Naturally the people thought it fell to them to "take" the land, and did not believe they had the ability to defeat their giant foes. They compared their strength to others, found it lacking, and suddenly slavery in Egypt started looking good.
The fact is, they didn't have the ability to take the land - not by themselves, anyway. Based on the size of giants they saw they compared their attempts to fight as grasshoppers against men, and they identified with grasshoppers easily crushed underfoot. The vast majority of the people did not bring the power, the promise, or their past deliverance to bear on the predicament which lay before them. This is a mistake we can make as well, thinking our entrance to the inheritance God has allotted depends on our strength or natural ability. Faith in God proves giants to actually be as grasshoppers (which were on the menu for the Jews, by the way), and only those who trust and obey God will experience this for themselves. Many people stop short of the grace of God and do not possess the gifts or activate the calling He has placed upon their lives because they do not trust Him enough to acknowledge their own weakness and simply obey Him by entering in.
Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes in grief and urged the people to consider God and not be afraid. They said in Numbers 14:8-9, "If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey.' 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them." God had given His people land with defined borders, and this is a picture of the inheritance God has for us in this life, a fruitful and blessed future for all who are born again. He puts His Spirit within us because He delights in us by His grace. Caleb and Joshua were right to say God would bring them into the land and give it to them, but at the same time they needed to walk on their own two feet. God will be with us, even as He was with them. If God tells us to enter in, through His strength we can.
When you face struggles in this life as a Christian, don't forget to remember and strengthen yourself in the promises of God. What He has said He will do. Those giants in your life are as fearsome as a loaf of bread before our mighty God and Saviour Jesus Christ. The LORD is truly with us and we need not fear them. You may not be a "fighter" and feel ill-equipped for the journey ahead, yet since God is for us who can be against us? It's we who fail to trust God. Isaiah 40:28-29 says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength."
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