Spiritual Binoculars
By
Elin Henderson
“…SEE I have given into
your hand, the king…, his city, his people and his land.”
Joshua
8:1b (NKJV, emphasis added)
The children of Israel were given a HUGE task of
subduing countless cities in their Promised Land, cities of the Cannanites,
Jebuzites, Hittites, Amorites, and more! And these weren’t just your average cities,
they had GIANTS in them! That’s why out of the first 12 spies to go in, 10 came
back with a negative report! Can you imagine the reports if they would have had
binoculars like today?!
Our spiritual walk is a lot like Israel in the Promised Land. We
cross over Jordan
into what we think will now be spiritual bliss and peace and find our own
Jerichos, Ais, and more as our “welcoming committee”! Had we a spiritual pair
of binoculars that could see into ALL of the areas of our lives that needed
reforming, we would be overwhelmed.
God was gracious to Israel when they finally entered
the Land. He didn’t reveal ALL of the places they had to conquer, but rather,
gave them one city at a time with the same simple instructions each time:
“Don’t be afraid or dismayed…arise, go up…See I have given into your
hand the King of Ai, his people, his city and his land.” [1]
The same is true with us, only our cities and their
kings have different names like Cape Fear with its popular suburb of Unbelief,
the thriving metropolis of Insecurity with its king Sir Pride, and the little
towns of Comparison and Jealousy…to name a few! God only gives us a brief look through His spiritual binoculars to spy
out the next city saying, “SEE! There is where we are going next…NO scanning
the horizon for other cities because you will surely find them! Don’t you worry,
we’ll get to those sooner or later, but let’s focus our energies on this one
right now!”
So, every now and again when the General hands over His
spiritual binoculars and shows you the next city to conquer, don’t scan the
horizons for more (you know they are out there already). Instead, just take a
quick look, hand them back, ask Him what the plan is, then get ready for
another wild adventure as you trust Him!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What spiritual “city” is in your scope right
now? Are there more than one?
2. Why don’t we need to be afraid or dismayed as we
go into battle with these cities?
3. Do we ever finish in our conquests? (Find out in Joshua
13:1!)
FURTHER READING:
[1] Joshua
8:1, NKJV, emphasis added
Oakwood’s
missionaries Elin Henderson (a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as
church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique,
Africa.
Elin is mother to fourteen-year-old Callie and eleven-year-old Elias.
