One Woman's Faith

My pastor brought a word to us a couple weeks ago which has been a source of challenge and comfort. I have read my notes over and over again to, as David did, encourage myself in the Lord! I long to be like Caleb and Joshua who were positive and ready to face the battle to get to the promise. Sometimes though, it is so easy to identify with the negative Neds who only saw the hurdles ahead – and embellished them with catastrophic thinking.

The land we have gone through is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw are of great height…and we seemed ourselves like grasshoppers to them…(Numbers 13:32-33)

The land which they passed through to spy out (was) an exceedingly good land. Yet, while all twelve spies saw that the land was good, not all of them had faith and confidence in God. And, as is still true today, misery loves company – and negativity battles to win the debate.

“Caleb quieted the congregation and said, Let us go up at once and occupy (the land,) for we are well able to overcome it…then the men who had gone up with him said, “we are not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we are…” (Numbers 13:30-31)

Our focus affects our attitude and our attitude affects our actions. They go hand-in-hand.

Ten men saw the enemy as giants and themselves as grasshoppers. They chose to focus on the potential problem and not the promise of their powerful God. Therefore they expected a sure defeat. Their miserable attitude had them angry against the two whose faith-filled stance had their vantage point fixed on whole of God’s promise. Both sets of spies encountered the exact same scene yet their focus was vastly different.

The way we interpret the facts dictates what we see to be true. We are responsible for how we get over the hurdles in life…we are good at seeing problems but not coming up with solutions…we are so ready to give up and forget all He has done for us…for every problem there is a solution if God is in the equation…let God do His thing!” -Pastor Bill Muller

This world hasn’t changed much since the days of Moses, it is still set and ready to suck the joy out of our journeys. But the Lord is still keeping His promises. And, at the close of the day, how we have chosen to see our circumstances will affect our ability to have peace and strength to navigate the obstacles and enjoy the sweetness God has already promised us.

It is a milk-and-honey kind of sweet to know the Lord walks with His own, and delights to give us His best – a land flowing with goodness!

So, let’s go up at once and occupy it, for in the power of the almighty we are well able to overcome it!