30Then
Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said,
"Let us go up at once and take possession, for
we are well able to overcome it."31But
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." 32And 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. 33There
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."
Numbers
13:30-33 NKJV
30But
Caleb tried to encourage the people as they stood
before Moses. "Let’s go at once to take the
land," he said. "We can certainly conquer
it!" 31But the other men who had
explored the land with him answered, "We can’t
go up against them! They are stronger than we
are!" 32So they spread discouraging
reports about the land among the Israelites:
"The land we explored will swallow up any who
go to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33We
even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We
felt like grasshoppers next to them, and that’s
what we looked like to them!"
Numbers
13:30-33 The Message
As
a person who struggles with a chronic illness that
seems to take me from walkers to wheelchairs and
back again regularly, occasionally I deal with
something I call, "The Grasshopper
Syndrome." Many have suffered from this ailment
along life’s road.
According to Scripture, the
children of Israel had spies go out from among them
to explore the Promised Land and after the spies
reported back, they found themselves similarly
afflicted with this "disease." The spies
had ventured out to take a look at things and though
the land was plenty with sustenance like they had
never seen before, they were unable to truly see it.
Why? Because they immediately focused on their
enemy. The longer they looked at their opposition,
the bigger they became. Soon their faith in the
Jehovah Who had brought them out of the bondage of
Egypt, was swallowed up. With it went their ability
to believe that they could indeed conquer and
possess the land.
They were definitely suffering
from "The Grasshopper Syndrome." They no
longer saw themselves as mighty men of war or God’s
chosen people, but instead referred to themselves as
"grasshoppers." Grasshoppers are fairly
harmless little bugs that often get stepped on
unless they quickly hop away. Israel’s confidence
in God and in themselves as His children quickly
evaporated. Strangely enough, they were quickly
convinced that their opponents saw them just as they
were seeing themselves and in that vein of thinking,
they may have been right.
Let’s take my current situation
for example. I have an injured left foot and an
injured right hand. Bilateral injuries like mine are
very devastating because all balance is lost, and it
is very difficult to remain steady on one foot. I
can choose to call myself "a cripple," or
I can instead say that I am "temporarily
inconvenienced." I can say that I am
"unable to do anything because of the
tremendous obstacles," or I can say, "I
can do all things through Christ Who strengthens
me." Grasshoppers see everything around them as
being bigger than them. The child of God sees God as
being around everything, which makes every thing
around them grow incredibly small.
When we act like a grasshopper,
others see us that way. When we act like a
faith-filled believer ready to conquer in Jesus’
Name, we are seen just that way. No matter how big
that obstacle is in your life, the Holy Spirit—which
is resident in you—is more powerful. Your
Father in Heaven is bigger than any devil you will ever
face. The King of Kings and Lord of Lord—in whose
image you were created—is the same Almighty One
Who lives in you.
Should you run into enemies today
as you travel on towards your "Promised
Land," remember the promises of God regardless
of the giants. You are not a grasshopper…so
don’t behave like one! Reflect His image as He
brings you through to that place of rich
fulfillment. You are destined for great
things in God—do not settle for anything less.
Prayer:
Father, we ask that You give us an
accurate self-image. Let us see ourselves as You see
us. We know that You have promised us so many things
and for them we are thankful. As we pursue and
conquer and possess according to Your commands, may
we never fall prey to "The Grasshopper
Syndrome." Touch every struggling heart today.
Where fear has entered in, let it be replaced with
faith as minds are renewed by Your Word.
