ICS Daily Devotions
Do Not Have A Grasshopper’s Mentality
Num 13:31-33 (NKJV) But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “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.”
God had spoken to Abraham and their forefathers that He will bless them with a land. A good land that is flowing with milk and honey but it does not mean that they will not face resistance from the occupants. They knew that there will be inhabitants in the land. In fact, God knew that there will be giants in the land but these are not giants in God’s sight!
The spies came back and reported back to Moses that the land is truly a wonderful and fruitful land. The huge grapes are a testimony of it. What the Lord promised them is true, the land was absolutely flowing with milk and honey! It was a blessed land. Unfortunately, they added the words “but” and “nevertheless”, they shifted from the truth of God’s word to the greatness of the obstacles. We always have the tendency to talk about the problem or the mountain rather than speak to the mountain of obstacles with the promises of God.
Many times, when God speaks to us and call us to do something, He will grant us the grace to do it but the enemies will also be there to discourage us. These are the descriptions of the ten spies: the inhabitants are strong, they are giants, and of great stature. The place is fortified and large. There are giants living in the land who are stronger than them. In comparison, the Israelites’ physical sizes were like grasshoppers and the people in the land are like giants. It was a very bad report. A definite discouragement and the rational mind will reason itself out and resign to a defeat.
They were struck by fear. Their hearts started to melt and began to complain to Moses about the plight that they have been brought to. Fear is a dream thief who will steal the vision, dream and calling that God has given you. It will tell you to quit and say that it is impossible. It will scream at you by saying, “Look at you! Who do you think you are?!” Do you think that you are able to overcome these major obstacles?!
They had forgotten how the Lord used the plagues that struck Egypt and by-passed them, the Red Sea parting for them to cross and then enclosing on the mighty Egyptian army, the water from the rock and the bread from heaven – all this was ancient history to them. They witnessed God rescuing them from the mightiest military power, the greatest totalitarian regime of ancient history and now they were afraid of some two-bit armies. They should be talking about the greatness and the deliverance of God in the past. What you speak is what you get in the spirit man! If you speak fear then we beget fear but if we speak faith filled words then faith is built up within us
Christians who walk by sight quit and refuse to fight when they are still walking by sight and not by faith. We are trained to believe in what we see, feel, sense and touch. Often times, people talked themselves to defeat, they talked more about the problem and how impossible it is for them to overcome the challenges. Fear and doubt are “good friends”, they will ensure that nothing gets done in their lives and never walk out the faith walk. They like to rationalize and reason it out so that they feel good that it is impossible. They have grasshopper’s mentality! Half the battle is lost when we allow fear and doubt to enter into our lives.
Knowing and seeing ourselves as the Heavenly Father sees us will enable us to be bold, fearless and full of faith in the face of challenges, obstacles and tribulations. We are operating in a better covenant built on better promises because of the blood of Jesus Christ. We will see the challenges, obstacles and tribulation as yet another opportunity for God to prove Himself faithful to us. We need to renew our minds and stand on the promises of God. He is faithful and will complete His work according to His Word. We can always trust Him in faith that He will remove the giants from our lives!
Sermon Series: Having a Spirit of Faith
