Warped
View
By Elin Henderson
“Then
Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, ‘Go up this
way…and see what the land is like...’”
If you
live with teenagers, you’re sure to hear certain words daily. Words
like…ALWAYS, NEVER, and ALL. “ALL of my friends have the new
I-phone.” Really? ALL of them do? “I NEVER get to do anything.” Really? You NEVER go anywhere or do anything? Hmmm…absolutes and exaggerations used
in ways that aren’t always logical. As parents, we shake our heads and cry to
God for help, right?
You’d
think that the 10 spies who were sent to check out the “Promised Land” were all
teenagers! Look at Numbers 13:25-33. The land is FULL of giants. Really? Wasn’t it just one tribe of giants in one
small corner? They were SO BIG that we looked like grasshoppers. Really? As small as a grasshopper? The land was so
horrible it devoured EVERYONE that went through it. Really? How’d you 10 manage
to get back? And then their solution to
the obstacles: “Let’s go back to Egypt!”
Really? Egypt? Do slavery and infanticide
sound familiar? Is the bad so easily forgotten?
How did they forget about the good that God promised: “...the land of
plenty.” Why does the good suddenly look
full of destruction? How did the bad become good - - and the good become bad?
We’d
say that the Israelites had a bit of a warped view of things, exaggerating and
blowing things out of proportion. God proved Himself strong to them again and
again in the wilderness. Each test, He provided for their every need. He led
them to a place of good and plenty, and what did they do? Complain, rebel and
try to return to slavery.
Sound
familiar? How many times have we been guilty of the same?
Before
we start to judge them (or our wayward teens!), let’s do a little
introspection.
God
has shown Himself strong on our behalves time and time again, providing in
miraculous ways. He brings us to a place where He says, “Enter into my rest, my
land of plenty for you.” And what do we
do? We see the GIANTS. We predict destruction and we hightail it back to the
bondage that He freed us from! We forget just who is with us!
How
often I exaggerate reality and turn the good into bad - - and the bad into
good. Needless to say, I have a “warped view” of life, and I need a divine
perspective to set me straight. Oh Lord, help us to see that if You go with us,
nothing is impossible. Straighten our warped view!
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
How’s
your vision today?
2.
What
kind of giants are in your path? Through whose eyes are you viewing them…your
own or God’s?
FURTHER
READING:
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 twelve-year-old Elias.
