retiredrevsreflections

Here it is Halloween–and that means pumpkins. Everywhere one looks: small ones, large ones and some that are downright gargantuan. One such giant became food for Henry, the polar bear (per CTV News of northern Ontario), and others, after being hollowed out, are used as boats. Tualatin, Oregon hosts an annual pumpkin regatta. For you numbers guys, Travis Gienger of Minnesota holds the record for growing the world’s largest pumpkin: 2,749 pounds.

The spies Moses dispatched to scout out the land of Canaan didn’t find giant pumpkins, but they did return with a single cluster of grapes so large it had to be carried on a pole between two of them (see Numbers 13:23). But for all its promise of fertility, ten of the twelve spies advised against taking possession of Canaan because its inhabitants were strong and their cities large and fortified. A classic case, it seems to me, of walking by sight–not faith.

Their leader, Moses, did much better. Hebrews 11:27 tells us he was able to stand up to Pharaoh because he saw Him who is unseen. Talk about a paradox! If God is invisible, how can we see Him? With the eyes of faith, of course. By believing what God has spoken. Had God promised Abraham that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan? Then no Anakim were too large, no city walls too stout to prevent that promise from being fulfilled.

When facing challenges or circumstances that seem overwhelming, we have three options: 1. focus on them. The ten faithless spies said, “All the people we saw are men of great size.” 2. focus on ourselves: “we became like grasshoppers in our own sight.” 3. focus on God. Caleb and Joshua reminded their countrymen “YHWH (their self-existent, self-sufficient, covenant-keeping God) is with us. It followed, then, that they need not fear the Canaanites, imposing as they may have been. Corrie ten Boom wisely counseled us not to look outward. That will make us distressed. Nor inward because that will make us depressed. Instead, we must look upward. When we see our God with the eyes of faith we can be AT REST.