Date: September 5th, 2010
Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder
Title: Overcoming the Grasshopper Syndrome
Text: Numbers 13, 14
Introduction
Have you ever had those times when you feel really intimidated?
I have
a. high school – basketball – small town (AA) played some big (AAAA) teams. Intimidated before got on court
b. college – flag football
Pretty good 1st year – join city league
2nd year – allot of our athletes didn’t come back (Tom); guy who was legally blind playing in the 2ndary
RCMP – took biker/convicts out of jail to play on line I think
Beat 50 – 0 & sent 2 or 3 guys to hospital that game
c. Ministry – times when felt way out of my element
i.e. wedding – hair stylists who were competing for Canadian team for world championships.
- camera at door not for bride and groom but for guests
- leopard skin outfits with hair done to match
- black – white powdered face….blue hair
Times and settings that I have been asked to speak or pray where felt like “who am I?” – really intimidated
Maybe you know that of which I speak
- New school – walk in everything is new, you are now the small kid, don’t know anyone, teachers seem to expect more….
- New job – new role and everything seems pretty overwhelming and intimidating
- New ministry – ventured out and volunteered into something never done before….feel intimidated.
All of us in life perhaps can recall incidents or times when we felt intimidated.
Text
In Number 13 we have the story of a very intimidating experience for the Hebrew people.
Moses was told to send 12 spies, 1 from each tribe, into the Promised Land to spy out the land. They were to check it out for 40 days.
At the end of it they came back to report. Here was their report:
13: 26- 33
They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 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.”
We seemed like grasshoppers to them….hence the title “Overcoming the Grasshopper Syndrome.”
A. What intimidated them?
1. People are powerful
Israelites didn’thave a lot of weapons. Left Egypt largely defenceless.
2. Cities are large and fortified
They were nomads. No walls around them to defend them.
3. The land devours those living in it
4. There are giants in the land – The Nephillim….sound like transformers or evil super heroes.
Read about them in Gen 6:4 – “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
Everything looked bigger and stronger and faster and better than them.
B. What was at the root of their intimidation?
Their hearts. Their lack of faith.
Their failure to see the size of their God.
Note:
Deut 1:20 – 23 tells us that God had told the people be strong and courageous and take the land, but the people wanted to see what they were up against first. They wanted a study done. And Moses went along with it.
What do study’s do?
- They assess our strength vs their strength.
- They look at things through the eyes of people not God.
- They figure everything out, but don’t figure God in.
- We want to know we can do it before we try. Have all our ducks in a row.
And when it comes to God’s plans most of the time they are bigger than us. When you look at it on paper there is no chance. It won’t work
- 300 against an army of 10,000
- a small boys lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5000
What shows up in this venture is the absence of faith in the people’s hearts. That was the root of their intimidation. They looked at life and the challenge through the eyes of the flesh not faith.
C. The Choice
All of us will have times in life where we feel intimidated. Where the challenges of life loom larger than us and we don’t think we can do it.
If it’s not that…
- 1st step into high school,
- at the marriage altar,
- sometimes it’s in the hospital nursery holding that 1st child and looking out at parenting responsibilities
- signing on that 1st house
- raising a teenager
- starting a business
- facing a serious surgery or treatment
- preparing for retirement
- facing death
Life has many things that can be intimidating.
And when we feel that way we have a choice:
1. Shrink in fear
2. Rise in faith
You see, the story here is that the people heard 2 reports
- 10 spies told about all the intimidating things
- 2 spies – Joshua & Caleb – said this
Numbers 14: 6
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
They are confronted with a choice.
- Who will you trust?
- Will you trust in your own strength or will you trust God?
- Will you figure if you have it? Or will you figure God in?
- Will you look at your numbers or will you pray and believe in God’s resources?
D. The People’s Response
These people chose to shrink in fear. They didn’t figure God in. They didn’t figure he was a significant difference in the equation.
Numbers 14:1
That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
E. God’s Response to Their Choice
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”
13 Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O Lord, are with these people and that you, O Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16 ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.’
17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.?a?”
26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: 29 In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. 34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die.”
36 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— 37 these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.
God forgives but there are consequences of our choices. When we go down that road of fear, of saying “no” to God, sometimes God has to wait for another generation to rise up.
That is a warning to us.
I know of a lot of churches that are dying & just existing because the people of God shrunk in fear at watershed moments in their church life.
- They missed the opportunity to see God’s hand.
- They missed the opportunity to be used of God.
- They waited in desert talking about, “What might have been.”
- They sit and moan saying “We just don’t see miracles anymore.”Just don’t see God’s activity anymore”
- “Church feels dead.”
- “The young people are leaving”
Why is that?
Because we let fear not faith determine our answers.
Application
My Story
Friends, this story I find so powerful.
It speaks so commonly into my life. Into our life as a church community.
It is the story of our lives.
Story of being faced with a God-sized plan or call and the choice between shrinking in fear or stepping out in faith?
Story of taking risks because we believe God is in it and we can trust him.
I told my son one time that one of the biggest regrets I have of my early young adult years is that I stayed too close to the shore…I played it to safe.
Often in my leadership I would look at my people, look at our budget, look at our place in the community & hear this voice saying:
- You can’t do that.
- We will sink.
- You will fail.
- You won’t make it.
And too many times I think I listened to that voice…
Times when I had opportunities to grow and do ministry but backed away out of fear.
I am a person thankful for God’s grace and patience.
But in the late 80’s God began to deal with me….long process.
But it was at a seminar I attended in Toronto. I remember a story that just hit me. Speaker was looking at our church activity from God’s perspective….and kind of mocking what we celebrate. Picture the father calling the son over: “Look at that church. Look at that parking lot. Isn’t that incredible. Look my people now don’t have to get there feet dirty. And look at those lines….how straight they are. Son, just think you died for that.”
He went on to say that many churches don’t really need God….because there is nothing that is driving them to their knees. Nothing where they are saying “God, if you don’t come thru we’re sunk.”
That moment started a journey for me. God confronted a central obstacle in my life – my fear and lack of faith. My tendency to figure everything out and not figure God in.
And I came to decision in my life that
“Fear cannot be my only reason for not doing something.. Fear is not a good enough reason.”
I wanted to be a person who expressed more faith and took more risks.
Maybe you are there…
What does it take to respond in faith and not fear?
Look at Joshua’s words:
“If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
Few key factors:
1. Conviction: “Is God in it?”
“If the Lord is pleased with us….”
J Hudson Taylor explained this verse well in a statement that has shaped my philosophy of ministry:
“God’s work done in God’s way won’t lack God’s resources.”
The 1st question then is not “Do we have the resources?” “Am I sufficient?”
The 1st question must be:
- Is this God’s work?
- Is this something that reflects his character and purposes?
- Is this something that would please him?
The 2nd question is: “Am I doing it in God’s way?”
Are we doing this with integrity, humility, right motives, not under-handed….
When we step out the two most important things that become the anchor to your soul are:
Is this God’s work and are we doing it in God’s way?
If yes, then, we won’t lack God’s resources.
On a personal note, it is also a significant question:
- We need to ask: Who am I doing this for?
- Who am I trying to please?
God doesn’t just bless all our self-indulgent wishes just because we prayed and asked him to.
Before we step out we need to do a heart check: Who am I doing this for? Is this about “me” or about Christ?
“Is God in this?” Is God driving this?”
On a personal & corporate level those are important questions. Evidence right here in the story
If you follow the story you will see God wasn’t pleased with
a. the spies for their lack of faith and bad report.
V. 37 – “these men responsible for spreading this bad about the land were struck down and died in a plague.”
b. the people for their response. And when they saw God’s displeasure they said “No, we will go.”
But God wasn’t pleased.
Numbers 14: 42 - 45
“Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, 43 for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”
44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
Top question is: Is this God’s plan and desire? Is He in this?
You see, faith is not just dreaming big dreams and doing risky things.
Faith is a response. Faith is saying “yes” to what God says.
If God is in it you can have peace….because God’s work done in God’s way won’t lack God’s resources.
2. Focus:
- 10 spies focus was on size of the enemy. They were powerful, big , and many.
- Joshua & Caleb’s focus was on size of God. The Lord is with us!
What do you focus on?
If you want to be a person of faith. If you want to be a person who pleases God , then you need to put your focus more on the size of your God than on the size of your problems.
Is God bigger than your problems?
3. Goal
- Joshua and Caleb had their eyes on the goal - the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey.
- The other 10 – focused on the process not the goal.
i.e.
How many of you find yourself succumbing to worry at times?
It can be a battle all the time, eh?
How many of the things we worry about ever come about?
Usually a small %. 1 person estimated about 20% of what we fear and worry about actually happens.
The people feared they would be swallowed up…soundly defeated.
What does Joshua say though “Their protection is gone….”
We are going to move soon to the book of Joshua which talks about when they entered the land..
Do you know how many times they were defeated when they went into the land against these giants and fortified cities?
Guess?
Answer: 1
Joshua 7 – reason is because of sin and not consulting the Lord.
None of what they feared & worried about came about.
We never get out of the starting blocks when we look at the painful process, not the goal.
i.e.
Isn’t that the case with physical fitness?
Do I struggle going to the gym in the mornings because I don’t want to be slim & trim and healthy?
No, that’s not the problem.
The struggle is when I think about the work and pain of getting there. That’s what keeps me in that warm bed in the morning.
Too often in our Christian journey, we lose sight of the goal and get our eyes on the process.
- We want to be spiritually strong, but the process of getting there takes discipline, hardship, effort.
- We want to experience God using us, but the process of being disciplined and pruned and molded is painful…
We can’t equate God’s will with easiness. Often we think, “If it is easy it must be God’s will. If it’s hard it mustn’t be.”
Result:: We give up on good things because they were “too hard”.
i.e.
Florence Chadwick – 1st woman to swim English Channel – 2 attempts – 1st – foggy day & gave up
2nd – rougher day but succeeded:
Her explanation of the difference: “ The difference the 2nd time was I could see the land.” Saw the goal
i.e.
Hebrews 11:13-16; 32 -40
Conclusion
Regularly in our lives we will be faced with big challenges.
We will be confronted with a choice – shrink in fear, rise in faith.
The difference in our lives will be shaped by these 3 things
1. Conviction: Is God in it? That’s the anchor.
2. Focus: What are you focusing on? Size of problems or size of your God? Which is bigger?
3. Goal: Are you focused on the goal or the process?
The process may be hard, but is the goal worthwhile?
Prayer
- What challenge are you facing today?
- What has been your response? Fear or Faith?
Bring it to God – settle issue if he is in it. Make your desires his desires not vice versa
- Where are your eyes? Size of Problems or Size of God?
- What are you focused on – goal or process?
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The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Nu 13:26-33
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ge 6:4
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Nu 14:5-9
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Nu 14:1-4
a Hebrew Yam Suph; that is, Sea of Reeds
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Nu 14:1-38
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Nu 14:8-9
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Nu 14:42-45