We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. – Numbers 13:33
Moses sent men into Canaan to see what it was like before all the Israelites entered the land. After spying out the land, these men reported that it was a land that flowed with “milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27). That was the good news.
credit: HVargas
The bad news was that the people already living in the land were strong and their cities were walled. Caleb, a man after God’s own heart, had also seen these so-called obstacles, but immediately replied, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Numbers 13:30). The other men, not agreeing with Caleb, argued, “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33).
When obstacles stand in your way, are you like Caleb ready to overcome anything? Or are you like the other men who went to spy out the land, only seeing the size of the obstacle and your own weakness? Too often, we see our obstacles as giants and ourselves as mere grasshoppers, helpless to do anything. We give up, thinking that there’s no way we can possibly overcome.
Caleb and the other men saw the same things. They all saw the walled cities and the giants. The difference was their perspective. While the other men saw themselves as weak, Caleb saw the Israelites as strong, not in themselves, but in God. With God, they could overcome any obstacle.
Are you feeling like a grasshopper fighting giants? Trust in God and overcome.
Jason,
Thanks for the devotional. The sentence “Caleb and the other men all saw the same things.” really spoke to me. It is not the obstacle itself; it is how we see it. With God, any obstacle can be overcome.
Thanks again.
Joe Plemon´s last blog ..Airstream and Irvin: A Nostalgic Adventure
Joe, you’re exactly right. It’s not the obstacle. it’s our perspective.
“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matt. 17:20). That is, if we have the tiniest faith in God himself, we can overcome obstacles which man himself cannot.
Amen, Jason!