Pastor’s Pen
Most of you would know the story in the book of Numbers concerning the twelve spies who were sent by Moses at God’s command to spy out the land of Canaan. They all saw the same thing and yet ten spies perceived a potential disaster upon entry of the Promised Land and two perceived potential victory. All the spies saw the same thing and yet two spies had a completely different attitude to the rest because they were able to see from God’s view point in other words, their faith determined their perception. The rest of them were wimps whose attitude was so fickle as to suggest that returning to Egypt was a better option than entering the Promised Land. All the children of Israel had experienced God’s awesome power in releasing them from the hand of pharaoh. They had seen the mighty miracles of the ten plaques, they had seen the Red Sea parted by the staff of Moses, they had seen the pursuing soldiers swallowed up in the sea. They had all been witness to God’s guidance in the wilderness; a pillar of cloud led them by day and a pillar of fire by night. They had all partaken of His provision – the manna and the quail had provided all the sustenance they needed. And yet only two spies had grown up enough through experiencing God’s grace to believe that God would continue to bless them, the rest of Israel could only perceive things as babies, as if God had never done anything for them. Do you perceive present experiences with the memory of God’s goodness to you?