Animals

Animals

So [the spies] 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. We 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 13:32-33

In response to God’s instructions, Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan, a land that God had promised to give to the Israelites. The spies were asked to scout things out and bring back a report, as well as samples of some of the crops. Upon returning, they described the land as magnificent. One single cluster of grapes was so big that it took two of the spies to carry it back on a pole between them. But they also observed walled cities and giants. Two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, said, “Let’s go!” The other ten said, “No, not against people their size—we felt like grasshoppers in comparison to them!”

What a contrast! The two spies who believed God’s promise responded with courage, saying that the Israelites could certainly conquer the land. The ten who didn’t believe responded with fear. God vowed that of those twelve spies, only Caleb and Joshua would live to enter the Promised Land.

I wonder what my perspective would have been if I had been one of the twelve spies. Would I have seen myself as a grasshopper? It’s tempting to rehearse my fears instead of looking to God.

Sometimes we see ourselves as grasshoppers in comparison to the problems we face. Rehearsing the promises of God like Caleb and Joshua did would be a good choice: “The Lord loves us, he keeps his promises, he is with us. Don’t be afraid!”

Father,

On days when our problems seem to tower over us, may we choose to reflect on your promises instead of our fear. Amen.