It is all
about how you look at things. Ever hear that expression? We’re often advised to
think positively, to believe in ourselves and to have faith in God. All of
these things speak to our perspective on any life issue. All of these pieces of
advice can feel like they’re easier to say than be lived, right?
When I was a
little girl, living on the farm, come late summer and early autumn, our
farmstead was besieged with grasshoppers. I tell you, it was a tiny snapshot of
what any locust plague must have looked like. It was hard to walk anywhere without there being a grasshopper
right there, almost crunched by my
foot.
And my
little girl curiosity had me bending down to get a closer look at these
critters. I’d focus on their bug eyes, wondering, just what they thought of us
people, you know, those giants who often tried not to step on them.
How did the
grasshopper look at things?
I was
reminded of this grasshopper memory as I studied Numbers Thirteen. The
scriptural passage speaks to the power of our perspective on things, whatever
that perspective may be.
According to
the scripture passage, there was some land. And there was the dilemma about
what to do with that land. There were
a couple of different viewpoints:
“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.”
Numbers 13:30
There’s one…
“But the men
who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger
than we are.’”
Numbers
13:31
“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. 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 13:32-33
“Keep thy heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so
is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”
Proverbs 23:7
Why is a bad report so much easier to believe
than a good one? We seem to automatically defer to that negative thought, don’t
we? We think of ourselves as insects often much quicker and easier than we
think of ourselves as conquerors.
What if the thoughts we’ve been thinking have
been wrong? About our issues? Our addictions, disorders and compulsions? About
our own value and worth? What if you and I are just one teeny tiny thought away
from a breakthrough? Do we say, “I can” or “I cannot?”
God is thinking higher of us right now. He
believes in us and has given us Scripture to support those beliefs:
“I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
“For God hath not
given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy
1:7
Do we believe that? Live that? Allow that to
govern our lives? Or do we run ourselves down with the untrue grasshopper
identity? We choose.
I know, I know, I know. It is not easy to take
on the positive approach to life. It can feel even more impossible to view
ourselves positively. This isn’t about some perfect result. Everything starts
with a decision. What will we decide now? Right now?
We will not be perfect and problem free. But
we will be in agreement with God. And that has nothing to do with a
grasshopper!
Copyright © 2015 by
Sheryle Cruse
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