Numbers 13:32
“And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.”
Your estimation of something is certainly determined by your perspective. For instance, the size of a diesel truck looks big when you are standing right next to it, but if you were to look at the same diesel truck from the air when flying in an airplane, that diesel truck would seem quite small. Your estimation of the size of that truck is all determined by your perspective.
The obstacles you face in life are often determined by your perspective. The children of Israel missed going into the Promised Land the first time because they looked at the land from the wrong perspective. Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land. When the spies came back, ten men gave their perspective of the land. They said, “The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.” All these men saw was the stature of man. Yet, Caleb’s perspective of the land was quite different when he said, “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
It is interesting that one group of men saw the inhabitants as “men of a great stature” while two men saw the inhabitants as ready for the taking. The difference between those conclusions was their perspective. One group of men were looking at the size of the men and the walls, while the other two men were looking at the God Who commanded them to go forward. Yes, there were “men of a great stature,” but they served a God Who was able to overcome the size of these men.
Let me ask you, how do you see the obstacles you face in your life? Do you see them as “men of a great stature” or are you looking at your obstacles through the eyes of God. You can look at your obstacles as if you were standing by that diesel truck and see how big they are, or you can look through the eyes of God as if you were looking at the same obstacle from an airplane and truly see how small your obstacle is in light of the big God you serve. You can let the “men of a great stature” keep you from doing what God commands you to do, or you can trust the perspective of God and realize He is very capable to overcome the “men of a great stature.”
When you let the “men of a great stature” determine your direction of faith, then you will always go back to the wilderness of life and never see what God originally intended for you to see. Yes, the children of Israel continued to see miracles in the wilderness, but they never saw the complete power of God at work by taking down the great walls and the “men of a great stature.”
When I went into full-time evangelism, I could have looked at my “men of a great stature” and not gone, but I believed God was greater than the obstacles that would keep me from succeeding in evangelism. I’m so thankful that I looked at my obstacles through God’s perspective because for over two decades I’ve watched God conquer many obstacles in my Promised Land.
Friend, stop looking at your obstacles through your eyes. Let your faith look at your obstacles through God’s perspective. This is the only way you will act by faith. Living the life of faith will only be accomplished if you look at every obstacle you face through God’s perspective. Your obstacle may be big if you look at it through your own eyes, but when you look at it through God’s eyes you will see your obstacle is truly not that big. Trust God’s perspective of your obstacle, for His perspective is the true perspective.