Month: November 2024

Grasshopper

  In Numbers 13, we read about the Lord commanding Moses to send twelve men to explore Canaan, their promised land. At the end of forty days, the twelve men returned to Moses and Aaron and reported to them and all the Israelite community.  After scoping things out, ten of the men gave a grim report including the fact that they saw giants there and they could never overcome them. They turned the people against Moses and Aaron, and they even wished to return to Egypt.
But there were two men, Joshua and Caleb, who disagreed. They saw the promised land from a different perspective. They agreed there were obstacles but focused on the fact that God was with them instead of on the obstacles.  
I sometimes feel like a grasshopper surrounded by giants. Can you relate at all? The issues that concern me and mine seem huge. Some of the issues make my heart hurt. I agonize about my precious friends and family who are far from God. I struggle to see any glimmer of hope. There are those in my circle who are facing tremendous health problems while others battle with unexpected financial challenges. People who I love and respect are lonely and feel lost after the death of a spouse.  
The giant issues surrounding me seem overwhelming…when I take my focus off God. How often do I have to catch myself in grasshopper mode when I don’t see God working in these situations? Unfortunately, it happens more than I like to admit. My God is big, and he has a plan that is better than anything I can come up with. When I focus on my big God and the fact that he is able to work in all the situations that mean so much to me, then my problems begin to shrink.

 
Lord, help me trust you more, and to trust you completely. You know the things that weigh heavy on my mind and the things that break my heart. Please continue to work in me at the same time that you are working in these situations. I ask for open hearts for those I love so they can be drawn to a new or stronger relationship with you. Show them your love. Help me stay focused so that my grasshopper tendencies diminish.