From time to time I hear someone make the statement, “Life is tough.” I have heard it said in di◊erent tones, with di◊ering attitudes, and with emotions ranging from optimism to deep negativism. It is rare to have one’s life go smoothly and easily from success to success. Most of us face obstacles and reversals in our e◊orts to reach our goals.
I’m looking back in the Old Testament to the time when the Israelites under Moses and Joshua were ready to explore the promised land of Canaan to which God had led them when they were freed from Egyptian slavery. I’m looking at Numbers 13, the later verses of the chapter, particularly verse 33. Several bands of men were sent to explore, or to spy out, the land to which Moses had led them. Some came back describing the land as a land flowing with milk and honey, bringing with them clusters of grapes and pomegranates as examples of its produce. Others came back primarily talking of strong bands of peoples living in the land, peoples seen as enemies and threats. Caleb and his friends urged that the people move forward into the new land, anticipating success. Others were saying, “No, there are giants there, sons of the Anakim, giants of the days of old.
We were like grasshoppers before them.”
I notice that from the beginning of the Israelites’ quest for freedom, even in Egypt, they had faced enormous hurdles, heavily discouraging impediments.
To some, the possibility of escaping Egyptian slavery looked impossible, like a foolish expectation. But Moses urged the people to see that God was in this movement, that God would bring the people out, and lead them to a new land and new opportunities of life. He didn’t promise smooth sailing all the way, nor that there would be no di◊culties or sacrifi ces to bear; but he urged them to see that God was in this movement; God would go with them; God would help them find the way. Many times that faith met with challenges and potentially fatal discouragements - how to get across the Red Sea, how to find food and water in the wilderness, how to deal with frictions and unruly conduct among the people, how to survive the raids of warring peoples encountered on the journey, and how to form a way of life together based on justice, faith and truth. Out of these formative journeys came the Ten Commandments and the larger law of Moses, along with the numerous stories of faith opening new doors of opportunity, even in the wilderness east of the Jordan.
I am reminded that in many circumstances of our lives, some people will seethe milk and honey and the clusters of grapes, while others see the giants, the problems and obstacles and potential threats. Whether we may be looking at family ventures, marriage and children, business ventures or educational ventures, we always are faced with challenges and impediments, along with opportunities. Fears and insecurities tell us we might fail. Sometimes it seems easier, because we might fail, to just not try anything challenging. That outlook is a prescription for failure.
Seeing great and worthwhile things happen almost always calls for a venturing spirit of faith, a readiness to look beyond what is immediately before us, to see the power of fi ner possibilities when God’s blessing is upon them.
When I began to acknowledge that God was calling me into his ministry, at first I saw mostly the di◊culties and discouragements. I had no experience. We had never had a minister in our family. I was no public speaker. I was bashful and nervous before groups of people. I had di◊culty thinking on my feet. But I remembered that when God called Moses, Moses gave the Lord all those excuses why it couldn’t work. And God said, in so many words, we’ll work it out; I’ll work with you; others will help;
we’ll find the way!
In one community where I was a pastor, our aging building was crumbling.
We started planning and taking steps to build new facilities for the ministry there. Many discouraging sentiments were expressed. A new building will put us into debt forever. The new people coming in can’t be relied on; they are not like permanent residents. One lady solemnly informed me in a church meeting that there just wasn’t enough money in this town to do this thing! But others were responsive to the message that if God is in a venture, he has ways of opening doors to new possibilities.
If we venture with God, God will help us fi nd ways to fulfill his ministry! They paid o◊the new building in seven years.
There truly are giants out there in life - fearsome negative possibilities that discourage us from seeing and attempting better things in life. But our faith is a challenge to venture, with God, to see and to reach for the fi ner possibilities of his will and purpose.
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Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist and a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.
Church, Pages 2 on 07/03/2013