The GIANTS we FACE!

"After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned ²⁶ to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. ²⁷ This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. ²⁸ But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” ³⁰ But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” ³¹ But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” ³² So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. ³³ We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”                                                                                                 ~Numbers 13:25-33 NLT

The spies sent out from each of the 12 tribes of Israel spent 40 days in the Promised Land and encountered many incredible things along the way. Grapes with clusters so big it took two grown men to carry them. Figs and pomegranates that were so plentiful that they could hardly believe their eyes. There was also a bounty of milk and honey that was unlike anything they had ever seen, unlike all that they had thought they had while still captive in the great land of Egypt.

BUT there was something else they saw and it left an undeniable pit in their stomachs. GIANTS!

Yes, GIANTS! People so huge that they felt like insignificant little grasshoppers next to them. GIANTS that were so huge that they didn't even feel the least bit threatened by Israel's mightiest men! GIANTS that were so terrifying that despite all that God had done to this point in their journey from the hands of Pharaoh they could not see a way past their ominous presence.

SO what did these leaders do? They gave the people standing on the borders of the Promised Land a grave report... "We can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" I can only imagine the people in that moment - the near million people listening to the leaders that apparently had the Spirit of God placed on their lives just days before leaving on their adventure and being fear-filled and anxiety ridden!

Despite Caleb's best to persuade them that God had called them and could stand with them the people grew more and more frightened and confused. Frightened by the thought of going against the GIANTS in the land and confused by "WHY" God would bring them so close only to keep them from the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!

SO... let me ask you something this morning... "WHAT GIANTS ARE YOU FACING IN YOUR LIFE?"

You see... we all will come against GIANTS in this journey of life and faith. GIANTS like cancer, death, unemployment, sickness, depression, betrayal, and so much more. By GIANTS I mean what seems like insurmountable problems and issues that only seem to grow more formidable day-by-day!

You know... we all have GIANTS in this journey from time-to-time. We all face severe hardships, seemingly insurmountable obstacles and temptations. We all have problems. We all have temptations!

AND the KEY to standing against them is where we SET our SIGHTS! 

Do we like the people of Israel look at the GIANTS before us - the STRUGGLES and DIFFICULTIES or do we look to our GOD?

Caleb was trying to get them to place their VISION on things beyond "WHAT" stood before them! To place their VISION on the ONE who most assuredly could make a way past the obstacles standing before them. Caleb looked beyond the "STUFF" to the ONE who could... and has... and will continue to stand with his people!

You see... time and time again the Bible tells us that God will NEVER leave us or FORSAKE us!

Time and time again we are called to "Be STRONG and COURAGEOUS" because the LORD our GOD is with us wherever we GO!

So... INSTEAD of FOCUSING on the "STUFF" of life... the GIANTS that you may be facing in your life... your family's life... in your church community may I encourage you as the WORD has encouraged me today to LOOK to the ONE who is GREATER than anything you may be facing today... tomorrow... and for eternity!

FACING GIANTS in the STRENGTH of the LORD...

Rev Trev