Today my husband showed me something awesome about the big people who were living in the promised land. In Numbers 13 Moses sends 12 spies to check out the land of Canaan and they came back with some bad news.
32 ….“The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 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.”
There’s two ways to look at these giants- as a blessing or as a curse. The Israelites immediately thought curse and totally freaked out when they heard about them. They wept! They cried all night! They had a serious melt down in Numbers 14, but there were two spies who didn’t see the giants the same way everyone else did. Joshua and Caleb saw the giants as a blessing. They knew that their great God would not lead a nation of grasshoppers out of Egypt just to be crushed by some really big people. They knew that they had protection and the giants did not, so this was somehow going to work out in their favor.
Maybe God put those giants in the promised land to keep anyone else from taking it before the Israelites could… like huge Promised Land bouncers. Maybe God put those giants there so they could prepare big homes and big barns for His people to live in and store their big crops in. Maybe God put them there so the people of Israel would have been able to make more than your average haul when they went in to take the spoils. Maybe God put the giants there to assure that only people with great faith in Him could enter the land… because to go up against a bunch of giants you were going to need great faith in a great God!
The people who saw the giants as a curse were not allowed to enter into the promise land. Joshua and Caleb, because of their amazing perspective were the only ones out of this group who would get to enjoy the land flowing with milk and honey.
We live in a land occupied with giants. Debt giants, sickness giants, depression giants, fear giants, and all kinds of other messed up giants, but if we get the right perspective we can turn the giants from a curse into a blessing.
Number 14:7-9 They (Joshua & Caleb) said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
We have to get the same perspective that Joshua and Caleb had. The Lord is with us! His son has redeemed us from the curse of the law, so anything that comes against us that looks like a curse He can change into a blessing.
I imagine God loves taking some giant that the devil placed in your life to stop you dead in your tracks and turning it into something that blesses and moves you forward instead. It’s a beautiful thing when the devil’s plans backfire. When you are up against a giant, remember that because God is with you, it’s only helpless prey.
- God is with me!
- That perspective changes everything.
- God will turn curses into blessings.
- We are redeemed from the curse of the law!
- Milk!
- Honey!
- Josh taught me all of the stuff I wrote today. Love having a husband who loves the word like I do!
- Beau has a new dance routine she has to do every time Jake and his matey’s sing their pirate theme song.
- Very productive 6am – 10am!
- Roast roasting for dinner.
- Roast roasting always reminds me of my house growing up. My mom used to get up and roast one before church on Sundays and the house would always smell so good when we got home.
- Woke up with a song in my heart that I knew God put there because He wanted to hear me sing it to Him this morning.
- Fun play date with some new friends from church!
- Beau took a nice long nap.
- Bills are paid!
- Josh sent me the best text ever today with a word he got from God for our family.
- The Transformer that came with Gus’ Happy Meal. He played with it all afternoon.
- Pastor Robert preached one of the sweetest messages I’ve ever heard.
- I am God’s greatest desire.
- Remembering Jesus and taking communion.
- Awesome praise and worship!
- I had to park my car at the very back of the parking lot… packed house tonight!
- Gus and Beau have a worship duel in the car on the way home.
- I asked Gus if He knew what God wants most and he knew the answer before listening to Pastor Robert’s message.
- Beau only had one accident today!
- Dinner was delicious.
- Enjoyed my evening catching up with Josh after church.
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