“We Even Saw Giants!”
Forty days after being sent to scout the long-promised land of Canaan, ten spies (of 12) returned from their expedition with a report that shipwrecks the Israelites’ faith.
“There are giants…
“Their city [walls] are fortified and strong…
“They’ll take our wives and children!”[1]
Giants… giant walls and giant problems. This can’t be part of God’s plan??!? And a terrifying fear descends upon God’s people.
How many of us began our Christian walk with a similar notion? Perhaps we left Egypt with a glorious baptism, or we experienced such joy and worship as we watched those waters crash behind us, and realized God made us new in Christ.
But a little time has passed. We see a friend suffering and wonder—why would God allow this? Maybe we start to pray but feel—nothing. Someone mentions a puzzling Bible passage or questions something about our faith. A door closes that we felt sure was from God. All these ‘giant’ questions and experiences wear on us. Conference highs fade, life gets busy, temptations creep in…
And as we let those ‘giants’ linger— Is this all true? Could I be wrong? Is following him worth it? —our faith begins to crash.
But Joshua and Caleb returned from the land of ‘giant’ problems with a different word:
“These [giants] shall be our food!”
Our food???
Could it be that confronting our ‘giants’ head-on—wrestling with God in prayer, pursuing answers in the word, being vulnerable to ask for help from others who’ve gone before us—could be the very thing that strengthens our faith, helps us break free from that impossible temptation, and gives us ‘nourishment’ to go further with the Lord?
Friends, as the Lord leads us forward, we will encounter giants. Don’t run from them. Don’t shrink back, or give up your pursuit. Don’t shove them under the rug or pretend they don’t exist. As Joshua reminds us, “If God delights in us, he will bring us into this land [of giants].[2]
Facing giants is part of growing in the Lord, part of learning to trust him, and discovering him as the God who “always leads us in triumph in Christ.”[3]
Can I encourage you— take a moment right now and bring *your* impossible situation or difficult person or sin that’s entangled you or doubt that’s stumbled you—and share it with our great and awesome God. Tell him the whole story. Tell him of the giant that stands before you. And let him remind you of who he is. He is the God who specializes in the impossible. Do we believe that?
Oh, he is for us! He’s increasing our faith. He’s leading us on into more. He’s teaching us, with each giant we tackle together—that he truly is “able to accomplish immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine.”[4] He’s teaching us to trust that he is good, that his land is good, that his promises are good, yes, and even these giants—He will work for good in our lives.
Do we trust Him? Are we willing to try?
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This was written as part of a series of devotions shared at youth conference in Flushing, New York this past spring, but the concept is one I’ve been meditating on for a long time.
When the Lord asked us to leave our safe home of 17 years and move a small town ‘hood,’ filled with gang activity and a culture altogether different than what I knew… all I could see was—giants. Strongholds from the gangs, dangers for wives and children, and a house, long neglected, with a lengthly repair list.
We knew the Lord had asked us to go, and confirmed it with a dozen specific answered prayers, and yet, one night the fear came upon me so strong. Hysterical, heavy tears that no human, not even my beloved husband, could fix. Was God leading us out here to die?
But strangely, the Lord would not let me rest until I turned to this passage and read it in detail. I found an old Bible, and through tears read and reread this passage in Numbers 13 and 14 only to find that our Lord had addressed every fear I had… right down to the wives and children.
I was comforted that night, and yet still, each time we drove into the neighborhood where we’d planned to move, I froze in fear. I’d slink down in the seat of the car, hoping no one could see us. I’d park the car far into the driveway, sprinting to the door like a child scared of monsters underfoot. You laugh, but the fear was parlyzingly real.
Until we signed the mortage contract.
That same day, as we crossed the railroad tracks and drove into the neighborhood, this time as home owners—the fear was gone.
Today, we’ve been here two years. There are still giants. There are still gang strongholds. We’ve had police lines tied to our basketball goal and gunshots across the street, … and yet, the Lord has given us favor. He is making a way. The gang members stop by our house now, for bike repairs, bandages, and ice water. Last week, three of them came to read the Bible. The little ones come for snacks and toys and bandaids…but sometimes, they join us for church in our home, or come to sing, “What can wash away my sins,” on the porch with Geoffrey.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? Is any place too dark for him to visit? Are any giants too big for him to fell?
Oh church, he is able to do increasingly, immeasurably, far beyond what we can ask or imagine–praise Him!
[1] See Numbers 13
[2] Numbers 14:8 ESV
[3] 2 Corinthians 2:14 NASB 95
[4] See Ephesians 3:20 NIV
