What is Your Response?

 

 

 

The story of the Israelites surveying the Promised Land has two components: God’s command and the Israelites’ response.

 

“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel,” God declared in Numbers 13:2.

 

God did not just offer hope of the land of Canaan to the children of Israel. He did something more. He confirmed the promise with His word, and God is duty-bound to His Word.

 

The men who had gone to spy out the Promised Land returned with proof of a bountiful land and a not-so-good report.

 

“There we saw the giants,” they reported. “We were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight!” (Numbers 13:33)

 

God’s promise was confirmed right before their eyes, but they saw only what they had to overcome to receive it. Fear claimed the spies and then spread like wildfire to everyone else. God was angry with the Israelites’ complaints and fear.

 

“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness’” (Numbers 14:27-29).

 

We must realize that the giants never defeated the Israelites. The fear of the giants defeated them. They never even faced the giants. The Lord would have gone before them to defeat the strongholds of Canaan, but their fear never allowed it. They saw defeat before they even tried. The Israelites were defeated, not by the giants, but by their fear. 

 

Faith is the capacity to believe. We all can believe God or believe a fearful report. What we believe will determine our consequences. On what is your faith focused?  On the Word of God or the giants in your life?  If you live in fear, you may never even face the giants. Fear will keep you from receiving God’s promise. Fear alone will defeat you.

 

Do you have proof of a promise God has confirmed to you with His Word, but only see the giants? Fear keeps you from fighting the good fight of faith. God has not given you a spirit of fear but power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). 

 

“Fear not,” God says, “for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

 

What is your response to God’s promise? Don’t let a fearful report hold you back. There will always be giants to overcome. Believe in the promise God has confirmed to you! Believe in His excellent report! Step out in faith! His power in you overcomes the enemy and the fortresses keeping you from taking what is yours. 

 

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

 

 

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