by Jeff Kimes - Executive Pastor
Often times when faced with the unknown we will be distracted from the task we were called to by the real or perceived struggles that lay ahead. The fear that comes from those can cause us to miss the ministry and blessings the Lord has intended for us.
In Numbers 13, the Hebrew people are at that very place. They are faced with the unknown and have to make a decision. So Moses sends out a group of men to spy out the land and bring a report back to the people. After 40 days the spies return with their report. They confirm with the people that the land is just as the Lord had told them. “We went in to the land where you sent us; it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” Numbers 13:27
The men confirmed that the land was truly exactly as the Lord had said it was but they lost sight of what they had been called to do. Verse 28 begins with a word that reveals their true heart, nevertheless. This word implies that it doesn’t matter what the Lord has said we can’t do it. The men were relying on their own abilities to accomplish the God-sized task before them.
The Lord had promised them the land, andHe had told them how good the land was, nevertheless they were distracted by the real or perceived struggles they saw in the land and focused on their limitations instead of what the Lord had already told them He was going to do. Verse 32 says, “So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying. The land through which we have gone, in spying out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of
great size.”
Chisholm Heights Baptist Church stands on the edge of the unknown; it has been over 28 years since we have been without a Senior Pastor. Nevertheless, the Lord has called us to reach our community, our state, our country and the world with the gospel. During this interim time don’t let the distractions of the unknown discourage or deter you from the mission that the Lord has called us too.
There may be giants in the land, but the Lord will carry us through. We just need to put our faith and trust in Him.
God bless,
Jeff Kimes