LET US GO UP AT ONCE!

In 1941, during World War II, the Nazis invaded Belarussia and began a systematic extermination of the Jewish inhabitants.  They filled vast mass graves with the bodies of those whom they brutally murdered.  Using local collaborators, the Germans were able to discover and slaughter whole families. 

 

Four brothers by the name of Bielski, whose parents were slain during this persecution, were driven into the immense forests of that area to try and survive.  Before long, they found themselves caring for a large number of others who had also fled to the forest for safety.  There is a motion picture called Defiance which depicts the story of their plight.

 

In one scene from the movie, the older brother, who had become the leader and a sort of Moses to the band of Jews, was trying to rescue the group after the Germans had discovered their location.  As they struggled to make their way through the forest, they came to a large marsh that seemed impassable.  With many women and children among them, the leader felt that they were trapped and would be overtaken.  Just at that point, his younger brother, who with a small band of men had been slowing the Nazis down with the few guns that they had, caught up with the larger group.  In this stirring scene of the film, he encourages his brother, saying that they would be able to cross this marsh just as surely as Moses led the Jews across the Red Sea.  His older brother just embraced him and kissed his face – his faith was renewed.  They did, in fact, escape the Germans and went on to survive the war.

 

Funny, isn’t it, how two people can view the same situation so differently?  The older brother was ready to surrender in hopelessness, while the younger brother could see past the difficulties, and by faith see a way through.

 

We are often brought to trying times in our own lives, and we react much like the older brother in the story.  We can’t figure out an answer to our problem, and feel that defeat is inevitable.  Faith, however, does not flinch in the face of circumstances – it sees past what appears to be, and sees what can be in God.  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1).

 

In Numbers 13, the Israelites had wandered through the wilderness and finally were on the verge of entering the Land of Promise.  Wise leader that he was, Moses decided to send a group of men – representatives from each of the tribes of Israel – to go and spy out the land and bring back a report as to the strength of the people living there.  Also, he wanted to know something about the land itself, whether it was fruitful or not, etc. 

 

This group of spies, after searching the land, came back with very different opinions about what they should do.  They all agreed that the land was indeed “flowing with milk and honey,” and that it was altogether a very good land.  In fact, they brought back one cluster of grapes that was so large that two men had to bear it between them on a stave.  They also agreed on the strength of the people of the land.  They found that they were well established, living in walled cities and well defended.  Worse than that, there was a race of men who were giants in stature.  The majority of these men were unwilling to risk their lives in facing these formidable foes.  The Bible says that they brought “an evil report” to the people.  As a result, the people began talking about going back into Egypt and the very bondage that God had delivered them from in the first place. 

 

Two of the group had a very different viewpoint, however.  Caleb stood up and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it,” (Numbers 13:30).  Joshua was shocked at the unbelief in these other men and, along with Caleb, said, “…rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not,” (Numbers 14:9).

 

Our problem is that we think about things too much.  We like to weigh the consequences of every action so that we can be sure of a positive outcome.  In the end, though, we must learn to trust in the God Who turns the impossible into the possible.  It is He Who makes all the difference in our life, and Who gives us hope.  In fact, God often allows difficulties in our life so that we will learn to trust Him.  The question should always be, “What has God spoken?”  If He has said, then we can act.

 

There are giants and walled strongholds in every one of our lives, Beloved.  They represent barriers to our entering the land of promise and blessing that God has said is ours to possess.  We cower in fear at the trials and temptations of the flesh that taunt us and threaten to defeat us; and, if we’re not very careful, we may grow so discouraged that we think about going back to the life that God once delivered us from. 

 

God told the Israelites that every place that the sole of their feet would trod in the Promised Land would become theirs.  If they didn’t go forward, they would not possess the land; if they did, nothing could stop them.  This is true of us as well.  We must be willing to go forward in God, believing the things that He has promised us, and not backing down.  It is God Who will ultimately prevail!

 

Joshua said that the people would be “bread for us.”  In other words, by trusting the Word of the Lord and standing against the enemies of our soul, we are actually nourished spiritually by our victories.  After all, it is not the hearers of the Word who are justified before God, but the doers of the Word.  As we believe in God’s promises and refuse to quail before the giants in our life, we find that God indeed makes a way for us to prevail.  If we cannot scale the walls of Jericho in order to gain the victory, then God will cause the walls to collapse at our feet!  He will also prove to us that simple things like slings and stones really can fell a giant.

 

Let us be the people who look at adversity and see opportunities for God to be glorified.  Let us say with Caleb, “We are well able to overcome.”  

 

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).