Matthew 6:25, “I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Matthew 6:30, If God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
Numbers 13:17-20 NLT, "Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the new land, ‘Go northward through the Negev into the hill country and see what that land is like and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many, what kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? Do the towns have walls? Are they unprotected? How's the soil, is it fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Enter the land boldly and bring back samples of the crops you see.’"
Numbers 13: 21-23 LB, “So they spied out the land all the way from the wilderness...up to Hebron. There THEY SAW the Ahmanites, the Sheshites, and the Talmites, all families descended from Anak. When they came to Eshcol, they cut down a cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it back on a pole! They also took samples of pomegranates and figs.”
This promised land was so fruitful and so prosperous, bringing back giant fruit.
Numbers 13:25, 26 NLT, “After SEEING the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses and Aaron, and the people of Israel waiting at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land.”
1. Overemphasis on the negative.
When I look at the future and fear, I overemphasize the negative in life.
Numbers 13:27-28 LB, “This was their report to Moses: ‘We arrived in the land you sent us TO SEE, and it is indeed a magnificent country — a land “flowing with milk and honey!” Here is some of its fruit as proof. BUT the people living there are powerful, and their cities and towns are fortified and very large. We ALSO SAW the Anakim, descendants of Anak, who are living there!’”
2. I pay too much attention to what other people are doing.
Numbers 13:29 NLT, “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 River!”
3. I underestimate the abilities of God what God has given me.
Numbers 13:3 NIV, ”“But the men who had gone up with Caleb said, ‘WE CAN’T attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’”
Spies with fear-based vision saw themselves as inadequate.
Numbers 13:32-33 NIV,“They said, ‘The land we explored DEVOURS those living in it! ALL the people we saw there are of great size! We SAW GIANTS there! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them!’”
4. I infect others with my negativity.
Numbers 13:32a,NLT, “ So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites.”
5. If I don't have eyes of faith is, I make myself miserable.
Here's what happened, after they came back with this fear-based report.
Numbers 14:1-2, "Then all the people began weeping aloud. And they cried all night, and they grumbled. And they complained in a great chorus against their leaders Moses and Aaron. And they said, ‘We wish we died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness...’"
Numbers 14:6-9 CEV, Then Joshua said: ‘We saw the land ourselves, and it’s very good. IF WE OBEY the Lord, he will surely give us that land rich with milk and honey. So don't rebel. We have no reason to be afraid of the people who live there.
Be blessed,
Larry Neville
larry@praisechapel.com
Thanks to Rick Warren for many of these thoughts.