16 Aug The Grasshopper Complex
“There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” Numbers 13:33.
The grasshopper complex is the mentality or mind-set that prevents full obedience to God through intimidation from other factors. We feel paralysed in the face of odds against God’s will in our lives.
The story from the book of Numbers shows us how God”s instruction to take the land was met with opposition in the minds of those who were to receive the promise. From God s perspective, the land had been given. How to take it practically involved a fight with the inhabitants, the strategy for that was yet to be given. Read Numbers 13 from the first verse. God told them the land was flowing with milk and honey and they found it so. Now God did not tell them about the giants. Is that not like God? Not to tell you of the nature of your opposition if you do not ask Him? David was not told about Goliath when Samuel anointed him King. Whenever God stirs your heart to obey Him, He never tells you much about the opposition you will face in the course of your obedience. Joseph had no clue what slavery or imprisonment awaited him in his life’s journey. I believe submission or obedience to God is incomplete without the opportunity to do otherwise. Adam’s obedience was tested with the presence of the tree that was not to be touched. Without the opportunity to disobey, obedience cannot be fully tested. Without the opportunity to rebel, submission cannot be fully tested. There will be giants of opposition to your obedience to God’s instructions. God’s program for your life demands your participation. Your involvement includes your willingness, obedience and submission to His Word and Ways.
THE ODDS WERE REAL
The giants were real. The Israelites were not trained and had no experience in war. These giants were battle-ready. The natural odds usually are highly staked against obedience to God’s will and ways. The odds are usually high and real whenever we consider our natural situation in the light of God’s instructions. Their natural resources were far from being able to meet their God-given challenges. God never expects us to count on our natural resources to carry out His Word to us. He wants us to count on Him and His Word. The fears are real in the natural. Full obedience demands full submission and it usually leads to denying ourselves and our opinions or desires. We take on His thoughts, opinions and desires and commit to the fulfilment of His will not ours. Fear is the greatest attack on us whenever we want to step out in obedience to God. The greatest fear is the fear of death. See Hebrews 2: 14-15. Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. There are many “fear nots” in the Bible to keep you from fear every day of the year. Many times our imaginations amplify our fears. We feed on fears for so long that we generate fear within us at the slightest opportunity.
The law of Remembrance is so real in the understanding of fear and anger. These emotions trigger an unusual ability to recall accurately particular events that feed whatever emotion we are yielding ourselves to. If we are angry we recall the events that support our anger and hence feed the anger and relive the reality of the past again. If afraid, our minds get filled with the events that stir up our fears, justifying and confirming the need to relive the experience of fear. “Whatever we can recall, we can re-enact the experience.”-This is the law of remembrance. If you feed yourself with the imaginations of fear, anger and other things that feed carnality into you, you are storing them up for your future use when your mind can call on them to amplify the opposition to God’s will in your life. If they felt justified to be afraid knowing that they were not trained for battle, one who was not trained as a soldier killed Goliath. You may justify your feeling of fear over anything, when it comes to obeying God there will be people in worse situations than yours who obeyed God in spite of what they went through.
Another opposition they faced was their past. They were slaves who were protected by the armies of Egypt. To move from slavery to fighting giants by themselves was too much to handle. Our pasts have a way they condition us in our expectations. Do not let your past hold you down. Your future is brighter than your past. Blind Bartimeaus did not allow his past to keep him blind he saw a possible future and cried aloud for it. (See Mk. 10). The ability to see a new future is called vision. He had a vision of a new future. Their slavery left a deposit in their minds and that prevented them from going into the future God had for them. Without a vision for a new future, our past will naturally move us into a mould that will affect us forever. Many are missing out on the new things God is doing because their past is opposed to anything new.
Also a good number of the people did not appreciate what Moses was trying to do. He was perceived as mean and insensitive to their needs. There are times when we see God as just concerned about His own purposes not about us. The people did definitely not celebrate Moses. They did not like his style, words or assignment. Deliverers are usually not appreciated by their followers. They see and are willing to move into a future their followers do not see and are therefore unwilling to move into.
The few spies eventually transferred the spirit of unbelief to the entire congregation and they all died in the wilderness except the two who believed the Word of God over and above the giants they saw. They refused to enter Canaan and God respected their decision to stay out of the Promised Land. Their words, attitude and actions showed they were resolute on not going into Canaan. The only entry path was respect and obedience to God and His Word.
The Word of God is able to build you up and give you an inheritance according to Acts 20:32. God’s Word has the ability to build you up into becoming the army that will kill your giants. No Word from God shall be devoid of power. The Word of God contains His ability, nature and wisdom. These are imparted when we receive and walk in obedience to His Word. Joshua and Caleb chose the Word and measured value to it; they agreed with God and followed God fully with a different spirit. They entered the Promised Land.
Finally, the children of Israel saw themselves as grasshoppers. The way you see yourself is the way others will see you. The way you see yourself determines how hard you work, with what attitude and what expectations you have. The key to victory however, is to see yourself depending on the unfailing God. Self-focus does not get the job done. It is a God focus that gets the job done. Christ in me the hope of glory. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. He will put us over. We are able to do all things through Him who infuses inner strength in us. Our eyes should be on Him not on ourselves. Let the Lord be your strength and help you to see and be all that He wants you to be. God says it and that settles it! Amen.
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