Chariots of Fire
Numbers 13:26–28
"They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there."
More often than not, knowledge that is disconnected from God delivers heartache. It isn't so much the knowledge itself but the perspective through which it comes. Our perception of implications can be coloured by our biases and distorted by faithless inclinations. Planning opens us to the factors that may affect the process of achieving a goal. While it may be pretty objectively true that the walls are very large indeed and the inhabitants of the land, powerful, it doesn't mean God isn't willing and able to give what He promised. The majority of the spies focused on themselves and not on God. Although it is prudent to count the costs (Luke 14:28) and while considering our ends and means, we'd do well to shift our focus, trust and be faithful to God and believe that He is always a major factor in our plans; in fact, He is the ultimate gamechanger. So we must always remember that as He said to Zerubbabel that what will be accomplished is achieved neither by might nor by power, but by God's Spirit (Zec 4:6). No matter how daunting the prospect and the process may be, we can know that God is right with us because of Christ and through the Holy Spirit, so we can begin to fear less: "When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so that he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha (II Kin 6:15–17)."
"They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there."
More often than not, knowledge that is disconnected from God delivers heartache. It isn't so much the knowledge itself but the perspective through which it comes. Our perception of implications can be coloured by our biases and distorted by faithless inclinations. Planning opens us to the factors that may affect the process of achieving a goal. While it may be pretty objectively true that the walls are very large indeed and the inhabitants of the land, powerful, it doesn't mean God isn't willing and able to give what He promised. The majority of the spies focused on themselves and not on God. Although it is prudent to count the costs (Luke 14:28) and while considering our ends and means, we'd do well to shift our focus, trust and be faithful to God and believe that He is always a major factor in our plans; in fact, He is the ultimate gamechanger. So we must always remember that as He said to Zerubbabel that what will be accomplished is achieved neither by might nor by power, but by God's Spirit (Zec 4:6). No matter how daunting the prospect and the process may be, we can know that God is right with us because of Christ and through the Holy Spirit, so we can begin to fear less: "When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so that he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha (II Kin 6:15–17)."
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