FACING UP LIFE WITH CONFIDENCE
Happy New Year – 2010
Text: Numbers 13: 26-33
The main difference between people is not the facts they face but the interpretation they give to the same facts. A story is told a long time ago about two salesmen who were sent to Africa to open a market for a shoe company. One wired a telegram stated that there was no possibility of doing business in this land because no one wore shoes. The other salesman sent also a telegram stated: “Possibilities unlimited! No one has shoes! Send a big container, and stand by for further orders. The difference was the way the two salesmen looked at the facts before them. Very often, it is not what life brings to us as what we bring to life in our spirits makes the difference between people. Twelve spies were sent to explore the Promise Land. Their job was not to determine if the land could be conquered, because that had already been decided by God. All the spies saw the giants, the sons of Anak. But Caleb and Joshua contrary to the other ten saw these giants in the light of God, and therefore were in no sense terrified by them. They declared with daring faith: “They are bread to us” (Nun. 14:9).
As you face up the New Year, you can decide to see only the problems or you can see the possibilities.
A. Sometimes we see only the problems of life. Num. 13:31-33
Like the ten unfaithful spies, sometimes all we can see is the problems. We are a very problem-conscious generation. We have a keen realization of our church problems, our social problems, our domestic problems, and our individual problems. We are not asking you to ignore the fact that we are living in a world where problems are all around us. However, children of God do not need to overemphasize them and become so conscious of them that we are paralyzed. The declarations of the negative ten spies brought fear to the hearts of the children of Israel. “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we – the land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all people whom we saw in it are men of great stature – there we saw the giants; and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”(Num.13:31-33)
Do you ever take the time to consider your fears of the yesteryears or certain difficult situation? Don’t you realize after all that most of them were only negative thinking and imaginary problems?
The faith of the ten spies was no longer on God, but on their own abilities. They were overwhelmed by fear. The only contribution they could make upon their return was one of discouragement and despair. Their negative attitude and keen sense of problems affect all the assembly of the children of Israel. God had to postpone possessing the land until that generation had died in the desert.
B. Facing up life by seeing the possibilities. Num.13:30
Caleb and Joshua saw the possibilities, because unlike the other spies, they were not obsessed with problems. Caleb quieted the people, and said: “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” What does it take to enable us to see the possibilities in life instead of problems?
- We need a sense of mission. Num. 13:17-20
Caleb and Joshua had a sense of mission about what they were to do. They went to find a way into the land, not to report the difficulties. The mission was to see what the land is like, and to bring back some of the fruits. We often spend so much time talking about problems, we forget about solutions and possibilities. With a sense of mission we can succeed in the year ahead. Our mission is to conquer not to survey problems. - We need a vision of strength. Num.14:8
A person’s self-concept has a lot to do with what he/she is and does. A person who thinks that he/she is a failure will more likely be a failure. The ten unfaithful spies saw themselves as grasshoppers before the inhabitants of the land. They considered themselves insignificant and too weak to act. But Caleb and Joshua were positive. Where the ten saw problems, they saw possibilities. They had a vision of strength. It is not by our strength but by God’s that we overcome. If God approves a plan, He will provide the power to carry it out. In the New Testament, Apostle Paul declares: “…If God is for us who can be against us.”(Rom.8:31).
C. We Need dependence on God. Num.14:9
The real secret of Caleb and Joshua was their dependence on God. Knowing as much about the land and as much about the children of Israel as the other spies, if they depended on their own strength, they too would have been discouraged. But they were willing to depend on God. We have to notice how they expressed their dependence. “Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”(Num.14:9) The giants and the descendants of Anak of life are the problems, but with God in our side, we are more than conqueror. David said to Goliath, the giant and champion of Philistines: “You come to me with sword, with spear, and with javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts…” (I Sam.17:45). Dependence on God is the key to change all problems into possibilities.
Conclusion – How will you face up to life in the year ahead? Life will present all of us with problems and possibilities. We can look at the problems and be defeated or at the possibilities and move ahead. The ten spies and the problem conscious Israelites did not make it to the Promise Land. Success and failure depend on how we interpret life and whether we trust in God.
Happy New Year to all the members and friends of Redemption Baptist Church!