“We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:33
12 men were sent from the Israelite camp as spies of the land that they were called to conquer. All of them had the same view of the place, two returned and interpreted with a positive report. The remaining ones saw the land as one that devours people and themselves as grasshoppers in the sight of the giants of the land.
Perhaps this is a reflection of our nature – that when faced with the same situation, there will always be a sizeable group of those who will harbour a negative perspective and a much smaller group that will carry a positive one. It is important to know how and when to apply faith lenses especially when viewing a problem too big for us to deal with at first glance.
Firstly, we need to appropriate His Word on the situation. For the Israelites, God’s word to them was that they will inherit the land flowing with milk and honey. What stood between them and the promises were these obstacles that God would work along with them to remove.
Secondly, we need to realise that promises do not necessarily come packaged the way we think they should be packaged. The Israelites thought that they would just march into a land unoccupied by anyone.
Thirdly, we need to reframe our problems from God’s perspective. The 10 spies with the negative report saw themselves as grasshoppers in their own eyes when they compared themselves to the giants of the land. The truth of the matter is that with the possibility of the condition of gigantism taken into account, the size difference would probably be about 1.5 – 2 times. Now, a grasshopper is probably 15 times smaller than length than the height of the average adult. This means that the Israelites inflated the size of their problems by at least 7-8 times larger than what they seem to be!
What problem are you facing today?
Remember to appropriate His Word on the situation, realise that His promises do not necessarily come packaged the way you think they should be, and reframe the problem from His perspective.