Key scripture- “There also we saw the Nephilim the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim; and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”(Numbers 13:33).

Do you think like a grasshopper?

You know that you think like a grasshopper if you have a perspective that keeps you from taking the risk of faith to claim the promises of God. When your problems get so big that they make you feel as small as a grasshopper, then you are thinking like a grasshopper and being enslaved and over powered by your problems.

In Numbers Chapter 13 we will learn how to overcome that grasshopper mentality, so that we can fulfill God’s destiny in our lives.

God is taking each one of his children somewhere. There is a destiny and there is a process that he uses to get you where He wants you to be. The steps of the process are:

First, deliverance. God had delivered Israel from Egypt. Where they were being held captive. So the first step in being able to arrive at your destination is you have to have been delivered from enslavement. Everyone who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior has been delivered. Death no longer has it sting and Satan no longer owns you. You no longer live in Egypt.

The second step is to be developed. You must have a period of development, which is the wilderness. That is a place of trials and testing. The wilderness is a dry place and sometimes you go hungry in the wilderness. The wilderness is a stretch of territory between where you were and where you’re going, your destiny.

The third step is your destiny. Destiny is where God is taking you. Your destiny is God’s will and plan for your life. It is the reason why He saved you and why He has left you here on earth. You are here to fulfill God’s destiny for you. There is no such thing as a Christian without a destiny. Our ultimate destiny is Heaven, but we’re not talking about Heaven right now, because in Numbers Chapter 13 when the Bible was talking about God taking Israel to the Promised Land, it was referring to Canaan, not Heaven. We know God was not talking about Heaven because it refers to the Amaleks, Hittites, Jebusites , Amorites and Canaanites living in the Promised Land. “Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.” (Numbers 13:29). You’re not going to run in to any of them in Heaven, because they represent the earthly interruptions and problems that you run into here on earth.

In Numbers Chapter 13 we find Israel right on the border of going from the wilderness to their destiny. It was time for them to crossover and enter into God’s plan for their life. It was their destiny, their place of blessing, it is what He had saved them for. “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.” (Deuteronomy 8:7-10). For every Christian there is a destiny here on earth, a land flowing with milk and honey, which is a place of productivity that God has for your life.

Israel was right there at the border, but there was a problem because they were under the impression that when they crossed over into their destiny they would not have any more difficulties. They did not realize that the closer they got to their destiny there would be challenges in the Promised Land. They also did not understand that even though there were problems, the Promised Land was there for the taking because God had already told them that He had given them the land that was flowing with milk and honey, and to go and get the land that He had prepared for them.

In order for them to see how great the Promised Land was, the Lord told them they could send men to spy out the land. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” (Numbers 13:1-2).

They wanted the spies to search out the land and find the best way for them to take the land. “When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.” (Numbers 13:17-20).

When the spies went into the land, they saw that the land flowed with milk and honey, but they also saw the struggles, the problems, and the people who were already there, and that is when they referred to themselves as “grasshoppers”. “There also we saw the Nephilim the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim; and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”(Numbers 13:33).

Look at Verse 27 and what the leaders came back and reported. “They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.” (Numbers 13:27). They are basically saying “What God said is true because that is the most productive piece of property we have ever seen. Look at what we brought back, look how good and big and delicious this fruit is. This place is unbelievable.” They say all that and then they say the infamous word, which we are all to familiar with, “BUT” the challenges are too big. “But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.” (Numbers 13:28). They saw that the land was definitely what God claimed it to be but they also saw problems with going forward. Instead, of trusting and believing God when He said, “Take it, I have already given it to you,” they listened to their fears and doubts and all they saw was a whole bunch of problems that they had to overcome.

There were 12 spies that went in and all of them saw the same thing, but when they came back there was a majority report of tens spies, and a minority report of two spies. Ten spies said “We can’t do it, there’s no way we can beat all those people and take the land.” Essentially, they had no faith in God. However, two spies Joshua and Caleb, said “Let’s go take the land, let’s go do this, God said it was ours and that means we will be victorious, because God never lies and He never goes back on His Promises”. This is a good example of how wrong the majority was and why we should not listen to the majority when it is saying something contrary to what God has said. We should always act on God’s Word and follow His direction no matter what the majority thinks.

Even though the majority was in a leadership role, they were wrong, and the reason why is because they were looking through grasshopper lenses. They saw the physical problems not the spiritual purpose. The same thing will happen to you if you don’t know what God is doing, you will always be reacting to what your human eyes can see and you will never reach your destiny. If you are waiting to go and get your destiny after all of your problems are taken care of then you will never reach your destiny. Some of us are stuck in places where we should not be stuck because we always see the people and the problems in our way instead of trusting God to clear the way.

We need to be like Joshua and Caleb, they saw what God was doing and they believed Him so they said to the Israelites, “What are you waiting for, let’s go and take it, I know you can’t see it yet, but that is because you’re on the wrong side of the Jordan River. When we step out in faith and we cross the Jordan River, we will be victorious because God has already given us the land. It is already ours for the taking.”

Some of you are like the Israelites, you have God given dreams and you are on the edge of the Promised Land but you have never had the guts to go get it. Why, because deep down you don’t really trust God to come through on His promises. That is why you are stuck and you are not realizing any purpose and productivity in your life. Your trust issues with God can be traced back to these two problems.

1. Just like the Israelites forgot their history with God, you have forgotten yours. You have forgotten how faithful God has been. The Israelites forgot what God had already done for them. They forgot about the Red Sea. They forgot about the cloud that God provided to cover them by day and the fire that God provided by night. They forgot about the manna from heaven. They forgot that their clothes never wore out in the wilderness. They forgot God provided them with water from a rock in the desert. They forgot the footsteps of grace. They forgot that the only reason they had made it this far is because God had provided for them and brought them along the way. Once you forget what God did for you yesterday, you will stop trusting Him to come through today. Some of us shouldn’t even be here, but we are because God came through for us yesterday. Even in your weakness and your failure, God came through. God does not want you to forget what He did for you yesterday, when you’re facing giants today.

2. Another problem is, Satan has his demons postured and ready to get right in the middle of your purpose. He wants to keep you from crossing over to your destiny. He wants you to focus on the challenges, the difficulties, and to be fretting and thinking, “I’ve never done this before. I don’t know if I can do this. This looks hard. Will God really come through for me?” In order to overcome those doubts and fears, you need to pray and start hanging out with other believers who are positive, like Joshua and Caleb, and not people who are negative like the ten spies. You need to hang out with people who see the spiritual perspective of the thing not the majority who only see the physical challenges. You want people around you who can see God and see his purpose. If you hang out with the wrong people, and you’re listening to the people who only see the challenges and not what God is up to, then you’ll get discouraged and defeated and you will never reach your destiny because you will give up.

The two spies, Joshua and Caleb, knew what God wanted to do and the reason why they knew is because they measured things by a different yardstick then the other spies. They saw the Giants and they measured them against a Big Big God. They also knew how powerful and strong God was so Joshua and Caleb measured the giants that they encountered against God. Whereas the other ten spies measured the giants that they encountered against themselves.

Also, we should never ever take a vote regarding the Will of God like the people of Israel did when they were on the edge of the Promised Land. “And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:4). Don’t even offer to have an election and give people a chance to vote. That is wrong, wrong, wrong, and the reason why is; when you know what God wants you to do you don’t need to vote on it, just do it. If God said it, then there is no debate, discussion, or vote, just do what He says to do, and do it immediately. He is God and you are not.

As a result of the Israelites not believing God, they were sentenced to 40 years in the wilderness, which is a year and for each day the spies were in the Promised Land. They spent 40 years wondering around in the wilderness because of their lack of faith in God. God sentenced them to their request that they die in the wilderness. “All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:2). They got sentenced to what they asked for. They are basically saying, “It would be better to die in the wilderness then to move forward in faith with God.” In response to that, God said, “You got it. I will give you your request. You love the wilderness so much, and you think that I don’t know what is best for you then I will give you exactly what you asked for. I will let you spend the rest of your natural life in the place where you say that you want to be. Since you won’t move forward in faith with Me you are going to be stuck in the wilderness.”

Guess what God is doing for a lot of us, giving us what we asked for. For instance when you say, “I guess I’m going to have to spend the rest my life working in this horrible job. My marriage will never get any better. My health will always be bad. I will never get ahead financially.” Nothing will get better in your life if you continue to refuse to claim what is yours and step out in faith and follow God’s Will by being obedient to His Word and trusting Him.

If you do not want to spend your life in the wilderness, Hebrews Chapter 3 tells us that you have to mix the Word of God with faith. You can’t just talk the talk about faith you have to walk the walk. “So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. (Hebrews 3:19). The reason why a lot of us are walking in defeat and not walking with assurance and in victory is because we have failed to mix the Word of God with faith. You may be asking, “How do I mix the Word of God with faith?” I am glad that you asked. Pastor Tony Evans says, “Faith is acting like God is telling the truth. Faith is acting like it is so, even when it is not so, in order that it might be so, because God said so.” Faith is measured by your feet not by your discussions about it. So telling people that you trust God, and telling God that you trust Him means nothing to God until He sees which way your feet are moving. In other words, are you trusting Him and obeying His Word, because if you aren’t as far as God is concerned you do not have faith.

Today you need to make a decision to take the land that the Lord has already given you. You need to put feet to your faith and start crossing the Jordan.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I will step out in faith. Show me the way. Where You lead, I will follow and obey Your Word. I will not let my problems or the obstacles in front of me scare me and make me feel insignificant and powerless. I will not think like a grasshopper, instead I will take the risk of faith and claim all the promises of God. I will not cower before my problems. I will stand firm. I will take the land that the Lord has given me to possess. I know I already have victory because the Lord has already given me my destiny and nothing can stop me from receiving it. The question is not, “Will I overcome? But when I overcome.” I get on my knees before You, I am ready to cross the Jordan and claim my destiny. Nothing can stop me because, if God is for me, who can be against me.
I say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6). I receive the blessing of Your victory. No matter what challenges life brings, You will always give me strength to face them and overcome them. You are Yahweh Nissi, The Lord is my Banner, God is the one Who is over my life and He is ensuring me that He will provide those things in my life for His glory. They will be a reality. He is my victory, I will not be destroyed. He is protecting me, He is watching over me, I will be victorious. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.