Grace For The Journey
The Bible records in Numbers 13 what happened when Israel came to the borders the Promise Land. God told Moses to select one man from each of the twelve tribes to go in and scout the land that God had promised to give to them. When the men returned, ten of them saw giants; only two saw their giant God!
Today’s blog deals with the question all of us face as we walk with God on life’s journey . . . What do you see as you face your “Canaans” today?
Are you more focused on the obstacles you are facing
Rather than the omnipotence of the heavenly Father?
Do you trust that He will overcome all those obstacles
As you move toward the life He has promised you?
Are you more focused on your problems or on the Prince of Peace?
We all need to be reminded daily that it is not
The size of the giants we face in life that makes the difference
In how our lives work out, it is the size of our God!
And our God is bigger than any giant we will ever face!
From the boardroom, to the locker room, to the family room, we all look toward our own “Canaan,” and we can become deeply discouraged if we focus on the wrong things. We can let the giants of life get the best of us, just like the ten spies did who convinced a nation to live by sight rather than by faith.
Joshua and Caleb saw the same giants and fortified cities the other ten spies saw, but they chose to focus more on the size of their God than the size of the giants that stood in their path.
- They had seen God deliver Israel from 400 years of bondage in Egypt with a mighty hand.
- They had seen God separate the waters of the Red Sea and an entire nation walk through on dry ground.
- They saw the pursuing Egyptians swallowed up by that same Red Sea as God brought the water back together again.
They knew that nothing was impossible with God!
Can the same be said about you today? Regardless of whatever trouble you are facing in your personal “Canaan,” if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are not facing it alone. You face it with a God who is bigger, stronger, and wiser than any giant you will ever encounter. This poem by Gertrude Jefferies is a great reminder of that . . .
GOD IS ABLE
God is able, oh so able
To restore that peace within,
That was lost by sin and straying
From the Master’s fold within.
God is able, oh so able
To supply your every need.
Trust Him when the way seem darkest,
Lean on Him, and let Him lead.
For He is the Master Builder,
For your life He has a plan;
Though it seem to you confusion,
Trust Him, give Him full command.
He can take the broken pieces
Of a life that’s ruined by sin,
Make them into something beautiful,
Clean and pure, and whole again.
Because the Israelites listened to the ten spies who focused more on giants than on their God, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Wilderness wandering is reserved for those who shift their focus away from God and put it on the giants of life.
But this is not what God wants for His children! The cure for whatever “Canaan” you are facing is to remember that “greater is He who is in you than he (the anyone or anything) that is in the world.”
You have His Word on it!
This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey …
Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!
Pastor Terry
pastorterryjdavis 