Hi Folks
We had some snow today, but had church anyway. Like my friend Vince once told me when we were out lobster fishing - "If it had been this bad earlier, we wouldn't have left the wharf, but since we're here, we might as well fish a while." If the weather cooperates, I'll be away for a few days at a lecture series on addictions and pastoral care. I always look forward to these. I learn lots and see old friends.
Hope you have a good week.
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Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." (Numbers 13:30-33*)
I collect post cards from places I’ve visited. I keep some because the pictures are better than mine. I send some to relatives. And, finally, I use some as inspirational reminders. I have a black one, with white words from Winston Churchill: "Never, never, never, give up." Another one features the crest of the Apollo 13 space flight, with the words, "Failure is not an option."
My new favourite is a picture of the moon, round and pale against the blackness of space. It struck me how impossible it must have seemed to go there. While JFK stirred a nation with the words, "We choose to go the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard," engineers and planners were left with the details of turning dreams into reality.
How may times did they look up at the moon at night and wonder if it would ever work? How many times did it seem beyond reality? How many obstacles did they have to overcome? My postcard reminds me - there was a time it seemed impossible to go to the moon.
When Joshua and Caleb returned from spying out the promised land with the other 10 lads, they brought a minority report. "We should go up." The others said, "They are stronger than we are."
It is interesting to me that they all saw the same things but came to
different conclusions. Joshua and Caleb saw the promise of the land and the
faithfulness of God. The other 10 saw only the obstacles. Joshua and Caleb
imagined themselves dining in the land of plenty. The others saw only the Nephilim, who, evidently, were very large and intimidating.
Even the sight of them was enough to make them want to turn back to
The difference was a perspective of faith. Joshua and Caleb believed God would lead them into the land, despite the size of the opposition. "If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us." (Numbers 14:8)
How often do our dreams and goals seem impossible? The people of Joshua’s day called their problems the "Nephilim." What do we call our giants? Time? Money? Someone who stands in the way ____________________ (insert name here) ? Health? Lack of expertise? Lack of opportunity?
We will never realize the future to which God calls us if we won’t trust him to take care of the problems. When we realize that our personal resources aren’t enough, we have to choose whether to continue by faith, or to quit. Not everyone chooses faith. Just as the 10 decided not to trust, there are many who will not believe God can carry the day. Those people will not see their "promised land."
To see my "promised land," I have to trust God. When obstacles seem too big, when problems seem overwhelming, when resources seem lacking, I have to look to God instead of the problems. My picture of the moon reminds me that if people can accomplish the seemingly impossible, then God can do so much more.
Hope this helps. Be On Fire,
ON FIRE is a weekly letter of
encouragement by
*All scripture references from the New
International Version, copyright 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society.