Twelve scouts were sent out to spy
out the Promised Land. Ten of them returned with a devastating
report. They were convinced that they will all die if they decide
to take on the 'giants' in the Promised Land. And they shared their
convictions with all the other Israelites and started to spread
this negative report. The Israelites immediately believed them.
Remember, it was merely an opinion that the ten scouts gave, it was
certainly not facts especially with God around, but the people took
it as the truth and started to wail and cry.
"Why is the Lord taking us to this
country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little
ones will be carried off as slaves! Let's get out of here and
return to Egypt!" Numbers 14:3
They were devastated and didn't
rationally think about this report. Worse yet, they didn't even
want to listen to the two scouts who gave positive feedback! They
were so consumed with the negativity going on around them. Joshua
and Caleb tried to reason with them:
"Do not rebel against the Lord, and
don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are helpless prey
to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Do not be
afraid of them!" Numbers 14:9
But the Israelites were too
emotional and didn't think clearly, they lost perspective and even
started talking about stoning Caleb and Joshua! They totally lost
all faith that they had in the Lord. They were a mass of
negativity.
It must have been so difficult for
Joshua and Caleb to stand up to them and try to give them a
different perspective. They were truly very brave men, standing up
against an angry mob of two million!
Now today we might be required to
stand up for what is right too, no matter how unpopular. And to be
effective, make sure that you are standing up for what God has
placed in your heart and that you do have all the facts. It can be
a very difficult task, but take heart, God rewarded both Joshua and
Caleb for standing up.
Also another point is that we can
find ourselves in a situation where we are surrounded by negativity
and we are keen on joining in. The negativity can be based on facts
and we are inclined to agree, for example South Africa at the
moment. There is rampant crime, discrimination, strikes, violence
and corruption at the order of the day. We cannot deny it; it is
negative and unfortunately true. But it is not going to help to go
into a frantic negative frenzy about it. It is tempting to moan
along with all our fellow citizens, but it is not going to change
anything. I am not saying we should ignore what is going on and
pretend that all is well. I am merely saying that we have better
uses for our energy. We should rather pray for our country and our
government, we should reach out and help the poor alongside with
our churches as far as we can, we can try and make a difference by
portraying God's standards to others etcetera. God has placed us
here for a reason and He will also tell us to move on when our job
here is done. It does not help to moan, it didn't bring the
Israelites anywhere and it will not bring us anywhere. Rather focus
on God and give the problem over to Him and ask Him for His
guidance in your life.
Father please help us to stand up
for what is right and not to join the masses in moaning and
complaining. It is so easy to be negative and so difficult to be
positive about Your future for us. Please forgive us our sin and
lead us unto Your ways. In Jesus Name. Amen