We are not grasshoppers

Have you ever faced a situation in life where things just seemed out of your reach, and believed it to be in an impossible situation?

If so, I found some encouragement from the book of Numbers where Moses sends out 12 men to spy out the land of Canaan with specific instructions.  

Image by 용한 배 from Pixabay

Num 13:18  and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19  whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20  whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

Verse 20 stood out to me. Moses wanted the first fruits of the land. It was the season of the first ripe grapes.  To me, this says quite a bit. The Lord was giving them a harvest of firstfruits.

When the 12 spies returned they submitted their report. A land flowing with milk and honey, and the evidence, the fruit of the land.

The report also said stong people, fortified cities, descendants of Anak, in other words, giants lived in the land.

Num 13:33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.

Joshua and Caleb were the only two out of the 12 that saw an opportunity and were ready to take possession.

Friends, we are not grasshoppers. We are not small, we are not insignificant. We cannot see ourselves as a bug that can be stepped on, we are much better than that.

While you are scouting your land, there will always be those around you that do not see or ask what God has for you. The won´t pray for you nor offer prayer but will be quick to show you their ¨concern¨ when you are dreaming big.  

Many times we need to see beyond our natural ability and tap into what God´s future is before us.  Yes, there will always be giants in our land, they will never go away. We each have our own giants to deal with, but God is bigger.

If the Lord is sending you into a new land, it is for you to conquer, not to fail. God does not set us up for failure.

God loves to answer in extraordinary ways.

He loves to surprise us.

I would like to encourage you to scout or spy out your land if you do not already have one.  Maybe your land is a new move, a change in work, ministry, or something else.

Don´t see yourself as a grasshopper, but see this as an opportunity for God to slay those giants that stand before you.

How to irritate a king

In the book of Exodus, we read where the king of Egypt gave a direct order to the hebrew midwives to kill all male children and allow the female children to live.   The king was in fear of the multiplication of the Hebrews, and in the event of war, they would lose.

Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

There was something the king did not count on. The midwives feared God, or had reverence for God more than the king, and thus protected the male children from sure death. Also, he was telling them to kill their own people.

There are times in our lives where we need to draw the line and obey God more than man, especially when it goes against the word of God. Satan wanted the extinction of the Messianic line, but it did not happen.

Two women had the courage to go against the kings’ order.  Think about that, two women said no.   In that culture, women did not say no. I thought to myself, do I have that type of courage to say no, when a directive given to me goes against my beliefs, will I be strong enough to stand my ground, how about you?

In further reflection of this passage and the story as a whole, Moses´ life was spared and became the deliverer of the Israelites.

What the king desired for the Hebrew children, he and his people paid with their firstborn son.

He thought they would lose in time of war, instead, they received plagues and death to their livestock.

He refused to let them leave, and the men and chariots ended up at the bottom of the sea.

The decree against the Jewish people was no match for God and for two women.

For the two women that saved the life of Moses and countless other children, the Lord provided households. In other words, the Lord not only provided an actual house but a family.

In the end, it pays to obey the Lord and He will not disappoint you.

Bible reading, Exodus 1:15-22