There is a paradox of the Christian life that I don’t think I ever heard so plainly put – and realized I had been subscribing to the wrong side of it waaaay too often!
It was the wise Henry Blackaby in his daily devotional book who stated it perfectly: “…God’s gifts often require labor on our part.” Oh, darn. But seriously, think about it. Have you, as I did, been sort of assuming a gift was a gift and all I had to do was just be a recipient?
Well, so did the Israelites – our oh-so-often bad examples from whom we are to learn so we don’t make the same mistakes, right?
What did they do? Well, clearly, God brought them out of slavery (400 years of it) and brought them to the “Promised Land” and told them He was going to “give” it to them. (Numbers 13:2 Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.) Here’s the catch – as you read the scripture, spying out or exploring the land was the Israelites’ request, not God’s direction. But after they asked to do it (which was a common tactic of man in those days), then God graciously agreed to let them take that step.
First mistake, they didn’t take God’s word that it was a good land. (Genesis 3:8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.) When they got through the “vast and dreadful desert”, reaching the hill country of the Amorites, Moses told them this was the land the Lord was giving them. He said “Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your fathers, told you.” (Deuteronomy 1:19-21)
Moses’ next words of reminder were “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Guess he was sensing their hesitation was a problem brewing.
What did the Israelites request? They asked Moses to let them send men ahead to “spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.” (v. 22) Hmmm … I think the problem has not really been addressed here. And Moses wrapped it up with a reminder that the spies came back saying it was a good land that the Lord was giving them.
What’s the problem? When Moses took them to task for their unwillingness to proceed, their grumbling and expressed fear that the Amorites would destroy them because they were stronger and taller plus their cities were large with walls around them, he reminded them not to be afraid because the Lord was going before them and would fight for them.
(Just thinking, myself, didn’t they remember the parting of the Red Sea walking through on dry ground and the Egyptians chasing them who got swallowed up by the Sea as God orchestrated — the whole miraculous event right before their very eyes? And all the miraculous events that preceded their even getting out of Egypt – like the death of the first-born of Egyptians but not Israelites, etc. And so much more in His leading and care for them in the desert!)
OK, I get it. I fall into that trap, too. And Blackaby pointed it out. The “gift” of the Promised Land sounded great to the Israelites until they realized that with the gift came battles against giants and fortified cities. Did they really think God was going to obliterate the inhabitants of the land before they entered? Did they really think they would just walk into a vacant land with houses and cities already built and ready to inhabit? Nope, they would have to fight for it.
But what they missed was that they would not have to do it in their own strength – God would be present to fight for them.
Yeah, I am beginning to see it (as I think of my own parallel situations), they would need to trust God – and I mean, REALLY trust Him – with their lives and place their total heart, body and soul into alliance with Him.
As Blackaby shared – “Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if, when we become Christians, God would fill our minds with a complete knowledge of the Bible and with Bible verses already memorized…and if God would instill in us a delight for spending hours in prayer each day and a fearless desire to share our faith with others.” But, as he truthfully shared, God doesn’t work that way.
He gives us the free gift of His salvation and then tells us to “work out” our salvation in fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)
It was the “fear and trembling” that the Lord was addressing multiple times in the Israelites lives when He said “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” in Deuteronomy 1:21 and many other places (battles along the way and to Joshua as he was taking the reins from Moses).
Again, Blackaby’s summation is where I want to camp: “…don’t be discouraged! God’s gifts to you are perfect because, through them, He makes you perfect as well”.
Nope, that is not easy for me to see – but that is the point! As I “work out” my part, I will learn about trust, about God’s abilities and ways and memorize Philippians 2:13 – “…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” It is up to me to ‘go up and possess’ that mindset, that heart, that level of trust and follow through with actions in concert with Him. May you be encouraged and unafraid right along with me!!
