Numbers 13:33 "....to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them."
Life feels like just a bundle of comparison so often, doesn't it? We see what others have and we compare it to what we have. We hear of a great work that someone has done and we compare it to what we have done. We watch that show that has the amazing design skills of the star of the show and we look around our house in discontement of our "mere" belongings. We see someone who is seemingly more beauitful or stronger than us and we compare oursleves with the lie that they must see us the same way we see ourselves. This idea of living in comparison to others is not a new concept. The question isn't, why do we compare oursleves? The question is, who do we trust?
In the book of Numbers, we see Moses sending out a group of spies to scout the land of Canaan, thier promised land. He sends 12 men who spent 40 days scouting the land to see what the land was like, what the people were like and if the land was fertile or unproductive. In the midst of thier instructions of what to look for, Moses tells them to be courageous, then finishes the list of what they should look for and bring back.
I find this interesting, because they indeed scoped out the land and found that it was flowing with milk and honey and wonderful fruits, but they also found strong men with large fortified cities and this caused the very courage they were instructed to have to waiver. They felt that they were grasshoppers compared to the strong men in the land and they thought for sure the people of that land would see them the same way. They chose to give in to thier fears rather than trust God and His promise to them and did so through comparison.
A few verses later we see God asking Moses, "how long will they not trust in Me despite all of the signs I have performed among them?" God recognized that the people did not trust Him. Because of thier mistrsut the only two who were allowed to live from that generation and live in the promised land were Joshua and Caleb. These two men held fast to God's promise and Moses' instruction to be courageous and they stood up in truth and told the people to not be afraid, and trust that God was with them.
Their complete trust in God allowed them to live to see the fullfiment of His promise in a new land that flowed with milk and honey. God planned for Joshua to lead the next generation of Israelites in to the promised land. Joshua wasn't perfect, but his faithfulness reminds us of Jesus, who is perfect. Jesus obeyed the Father and trusted His plan to save people from their sins.
This week, help your children to see how vital our total trust in God is, because that is an essential component of the gospel. God doesn't compare us to the people or circumstances that surround us, He simply asks us to trust in Him.
~Blessings,
Rhiannon
Next week: The Bronze Snake