Focusing on obstacles distorts your vision, if God has called you to something, there is no barrier He won’t remove.
Numbers 13:25-14:10 (KJV)
25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
14 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
3 And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
The Lord gave the Israelites a commission to go and possess the land of Canaan. The people needed a separate place to thrive as a God-centered nation. And He chose an exceptionally good country for their development.
So at God’s direction, Moses sent 12 men to survey and spy out the land. What a surprise when 10 returned with discouraging, terrifying stories. All these spies could see were the obstacles to taking ownership of the land.
However, Caleb was certain that they’d “surely overcome” (Num. 13:30), because he was focused on God’s promises rather than obvious difficulties. He based his confidence on God’s words to Abraham: “To your descendants I will give this land” (Gen. 12:7).
The people didn’t share Caleb’s faith—tales of giants and fortified cities scared them. Ordinarily, those would’ve been obstacles worth fearing. But the Israelites served an omnipotent God who had proven He could overcome anything: He’d parted the Red Sea to facilitate their escape from Pharaoh, and He fed them in the desert.
Focusing on obstacles distorts our vision. Problems loom so large that we can’t see to take the next step in faith. In reality, if God has called us to do something, the only hindrance is between our temples! He’s already planned a way around, over, or through any barriers that might lie on the path to fulfilling His purpose for our lives. And when we, like the Israelites, succumb to fear and refuse to move forward, we miss out on the great reward that results from doing God’s will.
In Touch Ministries