The 12 spies Moses sent into Canaan surveyed and covered the land. After 40 days, they returned to Moses, Aaron, and the congregation who were camped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Param. They showed Moses and the people the fruits they brought back to prove how rich the land was. But ten of them came back with a negative conclusion. They had focused on all the wrong things and concluded negatively. While they affirmed that the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey, what they saw were problems. They said that the people there were too strong, and the cities were fortified and large. Besides, the descendants of Anak were living there. These people belong to a race of giants that inhabited the land around Hebron. Their fierce and warlike features immediately sent chills up their spines. Furthermore, they said that present in the land were other hostile tribes, as they enumerated the Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites.
Of
the 12 spies, there were two namely, Caleb and Joshua, who were different. They
had a different perspective. We shall look at them in some detail in our next
reflection. Sufficient to say that they saw the same land and obstacles as did
the other ten, but they were confident that they could indeed possess the land.
So in Numbers 13:30, Caleb spoke up to calm the rising anxiety created by the
negative report. He encouraged the people to rise up and go in and take
possession of the land. Caleb was confident that they would prevail against the
odds. But the ten continued in the negative mantra saying, “We are not able
to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.” They kept
up by saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land
that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are
people of great stature. We also saw the Nephilim there
(the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were
like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Unwittingly, what these negative people saw developed in them a
grasshopper’s complex. By looking at the bigness of their problem, they became
intimidated, and the bigness of their God soon faded away from their view. Be
aware that our ability in life is often conditioned by our perspective. A story
was told of two shoe salesmen deployed to Africa to survey the market to
explore the possibility of marketing their brand of shoes. They went. One wrote
back saying: “No prospect, no one wears shoes here.” The other in his report
said, “Great prospect, no one wears shoes yet.” What are we focused on in
life? If we factor God into our lives and keep Him within our view, we will
learn to live by faith. And as we do, we will soon realize that there is no
problem too big that we cannot surmount with God. This passage challenges
us to develop the habit of honing our perspective in life. The next time when
we look at a doughnut, do not focus on the hole till we fail to see the dough. Do
not be a pessimist who can only see the wind. Learn to be an optimist and do
expect change, but most of all, be a realist. Set your sail, and move with God!
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