Patti Burris

Numbers 13:28-33

²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” ³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Are you afraid of giants? The Israelites were. They were so terrified of the giants that they almost forfeited the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. The Israelites took their eyes off of the God who had performed numerous miracles on their behalf and started to focus on the giants in the land they were to conquer. They forgot one little piece of information, IF GOD BRINGS YOU TO IT, HE WILL BRING YOU THROUGH IT! Their fear cost them 40 years!

Do you have a dream? A goal? An every day struggle that won’t go away? Are you facing a circumstance of giant proportions? Are you tired of fighting only to have that giant look down and laugh at you? Are you more like the Israelites cowering in fear, afraid to claim what God has promised to you?

If this describes you in any way, don’t worry! I know exactly how you feel! I have been afraid of giants and truth be told, if I came upon a giant standing in my way today, I would probably be very tempted to run. Except that, running doesn’t always work. Those giants have a way of catching us or keeping us from our promised land.

There were two who gave the opposite report of the other spies. They didn’t deny that the giants would be formidable opponents, BUT they knew that God had already given them the land AND that God would fight for them. Their FAITH was BIGGER than their FEAR!

Challenge:

Make a list of all of the giants that you are facing right now. Ask yourself, are you the Israelites and cowering in fear? Or are you Joshua and Caleb, believing in the promise of God? If you are cowering in fear, I encourage you to pray for courage. If we ask for what we need, God is good to answer those prayers. God is in the battle with you. You are NOT fighting alone! Channel that inner Joshua and Caleb and go get what God promised you!

We will fight many battles in this life, but we do not have to fight alone. The Israelites ended up facing the giants and claiming the promised land. God was with them and He is with you too!