When I was younger, I struggled with the temptation to exaggerate. I’d tell stories & add small details that sounded amazing, but weren’t exactly true 😳
I sometimes wonder if exaggeration is a tool the enemy uses to cause us to shake in our shoes? Like we face facts, but then suddenly our mind wanders into the land of “what if” & the facts get a few tidbits added that makes hard things feel impossible?
Exaggeration can make for a great story, but I learned today that it can also change the course of history.
Before God leads His people to the Promised Land, He sends 12 men to scout the terrain with a mission to answer many questions-what’s the land like, are the people strong, towns strong? As I read, I wondered why He didn’t just tell them? I mean He KNEW giants lived there, He KNEW the cities had walls, & He KNEW the crops were so great that it’d take 2 men to carry a single cluster of grapes! So why ask?
I think to reveal what was in their hearts. After 40 days of exploring, instead of proclaiming amazing things, 10 men spread a bad report among the people proclaiming how the giant-filled land will devour anyone who goes to live there! Not only did they FEEL like grasshoppers, they suddenly became mind-readers because they tell the people that’s what the giants thought about them too!🙄
Although Joshua & Caleb encourage the people to trust God, they refuse. The see the figs, pomegranates & grapes, but they refuse in fear, resulting in 40 more years of wilderness wandering with quail & manna.
My dads been in the hospital since Sunday. As the doctors give insight, I’m tempted to focus on what’s not being said, instead of the good news of today.
Y’all if we are to exaggerate about anything, let’s exaggerate about the goodness of our God! He is faithful to lead us to the land of plenty when we trust Him to do so! And to be frank, we CAN’T exaggerate about Him because we don’t have words to fully encompass His goodness!
We will all face giants at some time in life & God knows they’ll be there. He may not orchestrate their removal, but leave them to fine tune our eyes & ears to facts that can only be embellished & made beautiful by the goodness of our God!
NUMBERS 11:24-13:33
MARK 14:22-52
PSALM 52:1-9
PROVERBS 11:1-3