Numbers
13:25-33
25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. 26
And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of
the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought
back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit
of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou
sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of
it. 28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities
are walled, and very great: and moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. 29
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the
Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell
by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
30 And Caleb stilled the people
before Moses, and said, let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well
able to overcome it.31 But the men that went up with him said, we be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, the land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
II
Corinthians 1:3-4
3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to
comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God.
As humans, most of us, tend to
desire the “better things” in life. We see fancy houses, expensive cars, hand
crafted furniture, and we want them. We see guys with big muscles, or women
with fancy shoes or purses and we want to look like them. There is nothing
inherently wrong with the desire to have these things. I don’t believe that God
intends for his children to live in impoverished conditions. We are, after all,
children of the King, not spiritual hobos. The problem isn’t that we
desire these things, it’s that we are not willing to make the sacrifices that
are necessary to acquire them.
A Doctor don’t just wake up one day
with medical degree, professional athletes weren’t born hitting a baseball 700
ft. or dunking basketballs behind their backs, and business men aren’t just
handed fortune 500 companies as soon as they finish business school. These
people had to go through struggles to get where they are.
Yes, I do believe in faith, but
contrary to what that TV evangelist tells you, the Word of God says that faith
without works is dead. God blesses people all the time, but most of
the time those blessings come from hard work, sacrifice, and faithfulness
during the tougher times.
Many believers have been deceived
into thinking that just because they are saved and are now part of God’s
family, He is supposed to give them everything they desire without any effort,
without any work, without battling difficulties, or without any discipline on
their part. The truth of the matter is that the blessings and
promises of God cost what they cost, and the Lord never slashes prices. If
you’re not faithful in the small things, His word is clear, you’ll not be
blessed with an increase of the bigger things. To receive your
inheritance, first you must be a faithful and obedient child.
Yes, God wants to prosper you and
bless you, but sometimes you’re going to have to go through something. Sometimes
you must struggle and sometimes you must fight an enemy that’s between you and
your inheritance.
Joseph had to face a pit, slavery,
and a prison to become a great leader and save his people. David had to face Goliath,
Saul, and the consequences of his own failures to become a man after God’s own
heart. Elijah had to face the prophets of Baal, Ahab, Jezebel and depression to
become a great prophet. Samson had to face his own humanity and the
consequences of his prideful living to bring the greatest glory to God. And Jesus
had to face a cross and the grave. So why do we, so much of the time, think it
unusual that we face difficulties.
There is something in the struggle
that is necessary for us to become what God has ordained us to be. God left
giants in the promise land on purpose for several reasons, and He allows us to
struggle with our own giants for the same reasons.
First, God allows giants in our
lives because He knows that we need to learn how to fight. When I
was a boy we lived in a house in north Mississippi and we had no running water,
I had to carry water in jugs from a well at my grandmother’s house to ours. My
uncles, who were just a few years older than me, would push me down take my
jugs and pour them out and make me start over, just to be mean. My
daddy seen what they were doing, but he wouldn’t intervene and stop them. He
knew I had to learn to stick up for myself. Most of the time I would just cry
and refill the jugs, but one day I had finally had enough of being pushed around.
I got mad enough to fight back and I knocked my uncle upside the head. On that
day he cried, and he never messed with me again.
The devil is always messing with
God’s people. God knows that we need to learn how to stand and fight. The Word
tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but that they are
mighty, and that they bring down the strongholds. They destroy our enemies
attempts to build strongholds in our lives, but we must strengthen our faith by
reading the Word and prayer. Struggles drive us to the Word and our knees. The
Lord allows us to struggle, and often tears are shed, but if we don’t learn how
to fight, the blessings that wait for us may never come.
Second, giants distinguish the
difference between the talkers and the walkers. It’s one thing to
confess the promises of God, to “name it and claim it,” but it’s an entirely
different thing to put on your armor, strap on your sword and go toe to toe
with an enemy that’s standing in the way of your promises. Your
struggles qualify you for your reward.
David heard them speak of a reward,
but he knew the reward was only for the person who would fight and kill Goliath,
so he decided to face the giant. The odds appeared to be stacked against him. Goliath
was bigger than David, more experienced than David, and probably stronger than
David, but David didn’t care. David realized that he wanted to receive the
reward.
I Samuel 17:25 (KJV emphasis added) “And
the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy
Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king
will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his
father's house free in Israel(No more taxes).”
The giant had great strength, great armour, and great size. The
giant mocked David. David knew, however, that he came armed for the fight with
something that no weapon formed could prevail against, “Then said David to the
Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a
shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts…”
Through our struggles we should come
to understand that the fight, the spiritual warfare, the praying, the waiting
patiently and the enduring is as important as the blessing or reward. While
we often are looking only at the reward, God is looking at the development that
is taking place through the struggle. Faith is always forged in the
fires of adversity.
Third, the Lord knows that our
struggles produce thankfulness. When we moved back to Mississippi nearly
14 years ago, we had no idea what going to be in store for us 4 months later. After
surviving our first hurricane, Katrina, without a scratch to us or damage to
our home when so many had lost everything, I wasn’t asking the Lord why he
allowed us to go through that storm, I was thanking Him for protecting us.
When you know that you had to fight for what you have, you
appreciate it more. You won’t let anyone
take it from you. Struggles test your
level of commitment. The only way to
truly gauge your level of gratitude is through the struggle.
Fourth, the Giants flush out the
grasshoppers in the crowd, because when the giants show up, grasshoppers begin
to speak up. Grasshoppers usually blend into their environment, but
giants uncover them. Grasshoppers don’t eat grapes and you will
never have faith with the spiritual mind and appetite of a grasshopper. This
generation of the children of Israel forfeited their inheritance because they
would not fight
How many of Gods people today are
willing to forfeit their destiny and their promise because they refuse to stand
up against the enemy and fight for it. When the heat of the fires of
life approach and the enemy is breathing down their necks, they bail out, back
down, lay down their swords and surrender. If everything is going
smooth, they’re right there with the rest of the army, but when the real fight
comes, they cave in to discouragement, fear and doubt.
If you are willing to admit it
today, what you are today in God has been forged in the fires of adversity,
your growth has most likely been due to overcoming the enemy’s attempts to
bring you down. You are what you are in Christ because of what you had to fight
for, what you have had to fight against, and the struggles you have overcome.
A caterpillar must go through the
process of metamorphosis to change from an earthbound creature into a beautiful
butterfly, but this process involves struggle and to cut the struggle short
would rob it of its destiny.
A baby chick in the egg must go
through growth inside of the egg until it begins to outgrow the egg, then it
must peck its way out. It is the struggle that give the chick
strength and prepares it for life outside the egg. To cut the
struggle short would weaken it, if not kill the chick entirely. It
is only through the struggle that it gains the strength it needs to survive and
thrive in the brutal world of its new environment.
Last, the best reason for God to
allow us our struggles is that it qualifies us to help others who have similar
struggles. When you have had to struggle through something, you can help
somebody else. When you have stood your ground, when you have fought
the good fight and conquered your giants, you are qualified to help someone
else conquer theirs.
The devil wants to make it all about
you, he wants to give you tunnel vision so that you’ll focus all your attention
on the struggle, but God wants you to see that the devil may have sent it to
take you out, but God is going to use it to take you up, and when you get up
you’ll be qualified to help someone else get up. Through your
struggles, if you stand and fight, God will bring you to a place of greater
influence and make you a blessing to your brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Tell yourself right now: I may be
going through a fight, but God’s growing me through this fight. I
may be facing giants, but God us bigger than my fears. I’m
developing more compassion, more patience, more endurance, and some long
suffering. I’m getting a spiritual workout, but I’m gaining
spiritual power. I am acquiring the ability to put myself in someone
else’s shoes, to see where others are and to feel what they feel, so I can
speak a word in season to them.
Yes, I’m struggling right now, but
don’t pity me, because there’s something in this fight that I need to become
what God has ordained for me. I would have no testimony with this
test and no victory without a fight.
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