Inspired by “Streams in the Desert”
Numbers 13:33 “There we saw giants”
Here we have the Israelites standing by the gateway to the promise land, the Jordan River. The spies have gone to check out the land and have returned with tales of abundant food, flocks, and everything needed to help the nations survive and thrive. But, they also have tales of cities, tales of giants. All but two of the spies were practically shaking with fear at the thought of entering what God had laid out for them. What God had PROMISED to them! There were two spies however, that saw the giants and the cities, AND, they saw God. They saw a mighty God that made a promise that said this land was theirs.
Giants stand for great difficulties and they are everywhere in this life. They are sent when we are not ready for them. They are sent in places we do not expect them, like our homes and social lives, our churches and our communities. Now here’s a fact, unless you know God’s promises then you will be forced to flee, you will succumb to the giants or at least not succeed as well as you could have. But just knowing the promises is not enough, you also need a faith. A faith that is so strong that you KNOW God will see you through and fulfill His promises in your life. If you can believe that then you will become a giant slayer.
The two spies that saw God, instead of the problems, tried to stop the Israelites. They said things like “this land is very good!”, “God will give this land of milk and honey to us!”, and “the giants will be as bread to us”. In other words, they are saying “We will be stronger by beating the giants than if there had been no giants to beat”. They were saying the giants were a bonus, not an obstacle! Rest assured troops, you will find giants when you are following God, more than you would otherwise. Israel ran to the wilderness, which was not God’s will for them and there, they found no giant. But follow God, believe that He does what He promises He’ll do, take down the giants and GROW! If you flee them, you are not remembering God’s promises and therefore are not following God’s will. In short, if you flee them, you will find no growth.
We’ve seen it…growth through the hard places but it took digging more into God, not less. Assurance that God is for us will help us get through SO MUCH…anything, in fact. God is for each of you! Let that sink in.
“digging more into God, not less”. I love it Leah. So many times people run into a giant and then get upset and turn away or even quite altogether. Digging less into God will not give you victory giant slayers!
I like your point in the last paragraph. “‘We will be stronger by beating the giants then if there had been no giants to beat’. They were saying the giants were a bonus, not an obstacle!” That inspires me to do better against my “giants”.
I’m glad to hear that you’re feeling inspired. Inspiration is a powerful weapon to use against our giants Danielle!
Thanks
I agree. We should think of our problems as a bonus not an obstacle. If we do that then we will be stronger in faith. It will also help other see good in us and God.
Amen Anon! Excellent conclusion!
While it’s hard to be thankful for many of the giants that come our way, I’ve never really thought about the “benefits” of having giants quite like this before. So, we really do need to be thankful for those giants and the opportunity they give us to grow and benefit from God’s goodness and teachings. It is really up to us how we respond and learn from the difficulties that come to us. 😊
Yes, yes and yes again Barb B! This blog’s purpose is to get us to rethink about how we view the trials that come our way. Will we fear and run from our giants or will we see only opportunity and promise!