Tell the Giants Goodbye

Written by Mary Moore

Numbers 13: 1-33

The Children of Israel left Egypt and were preparing to go into the land of Canaan. They appeared to be so much like we are today…wanting to know all the details, not walking by faith or trusting God.

The difference between Joshua and Caleb and the other ten spies was their attitude.  A bad attitude can ruin your day and more.  It can destroy your report.  The report from the ten spies was drastically different from that of Joshua and Caleb.

Joshua and Caleb had a clear vision of what the Lord wanted to do for His people.  In Numbers 14:9, “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.”  Despite the groans of the ten worried spies, Joshua and Caleb kept their minds on the promise.

Caleb was confident of God’s faithfulness.  “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are will able to overcome it.’”  (Numbers 13:30)  He encouraged the Israelites.

But like so many of us today, we choose to see the negative side of things more often than the positive.  The ten spies continued to have a negative attitude and continued to predict defeat. This caused the Israelites to begin to devise a plan to return to Egypt. Egypt – the place they were in bondage for so many years.

Joshua and Caleb, however, believed so much in the Lord’s promises that they kept saying, “Let’s go and take the land the Lord had promised.”  Joshua and Caleb believed God.

Out of all the people that left the bondage of Egypt, only two lived to see the Promise Land.

The same principle holds true today.  God promises so many things but until we possess them, the promise remains out there somewhere, seemingly out of reach.  We must choose to believe God’s Word and apply it.

The things He prepares for us are so mighty and incredible that we often need a shift in mindset before we can accept them at face value. Until our hearts get in tune with God’s Word, the giants gets the best of us. There are many giants we face: insecurity giants, low self-esteem giants, financial giants, “I’m not ready just yet giant”, etc. These giants leap into action when God’s promise is in the back of our mind, and we tend to forget for even a moment that if God is for us, no one can be against us. (Romans 8:31B) Thinking and dwelling on our giants, we risk losing our Promise Land. No matter what we face, we don’t face it alone. God is with us every moment. Once we accept this truth, our role in taking the land becomes simple. We need to surrender to His plan and believe His Word. It is amazing what happens when we believe that we can possess what He has promised.