Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 1:21)
The command of the Lord here is seemingly simple. 'Go and possess it'
God had set the land as an inheritance before the children of Israel and simply declared "It belongs to you- Go, occupy and plant yourself there"
You know the story however of what occurred next.
The children of Israel sent spies into the Land to assess the strength of the people who lived there. The spies came back and reported to the Israelites: 'It's a beautiful and wonderfully prosperous land but not so fast- Did you see the size of those guys they declared...'
"And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there"(Deuteronomy 1:27-28 KJV)
All of a sudden fear and unbelief had crept in. Instead of moving into the land in obedience to the command of God the people rebelled against the word of the Lord through unbelief.
Did God tell them it would always be easy? No!
In fact God told them to go and possess the land but He also commanded them not to fear and not to be discouraged. God understood that there would be some foes in that land that may strike fear in the hearts of ordinary individuals, but these were not to be ordinary individuals moving to possess this land.
These were the chosen people of God and the LORD Himself declared that He would be with them.
How soon had these people forgotten of the delivering power of Jehovah that broke the yoke of pharaoh from off their backs.
How soon had they forgotten of the miraculous parting of the Red Sea.
How soon had they forgotten of the tangible power and presence of the Most High that led them daily as a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day.
They had refused to see with the eyes of faith. They had refused to see through the eyes of the 'promise'. Rather, they chose to view things through the eyesight of rationalization and the lens of doubt.
Sure the occupants of that land were fierce.
Sure they were ferocious.
Sure they were Giants and their cities were heavily fortified.
In fact the spies returned and struck panic and fear in the hearts of the people as they declared that 'they were as grasshoppers in the sight of the Giants'.
Unbelief and doubt soon spread like cancer.
The people began to turn on God and harbor resentment.
They began to spiral into depression as they murmured and began to accuse God of bringing them there to die.
They allowed the word of men to trump the word of God.
God Himself had declared that He was going to fight for them.
If God is for you, who can be against you?
God has commanded you to 'Go and possess the land'.
So I ask, what Giants are in your way?
What things seem to tower over your circumstances and cause you to lose hope and thus lose faith?
Your present circumstances are not greater than your promise. Your promise is greater than your present.
Don't look at your dilemma or your adversary through the natural eyes.
Look at it through the lens of the word of God.
What did God say?
If God said it then He will do it!
Arise in faith and go possess the land! The battle is not yours but the Lord's.
Stumble not at the promise through unbelief but stand in faith and be steadfast.
