Some Saw Grapes, Some Saw GIANTS!

Welcome to Scattered Moments. You know, it's easy for me at least to get pessimistic when I look around at all the things that are happening. And then I remember this story. The Lord said to Moses, Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. And so Moses appointed twelve men, one from each tribe, to go into the land. Shemua, Shapah, Egal, Hoshea, Palti, Gadia, Gadi, Imuel, Zether, Nabah, Yule, Joshua and Caleb. Twelve men, Israel's best. They went, they saw, they returned. Caleb was really excited when he got back. I can just hear Joshua and Caleb talking over each other. You won't believe it. The place is incredible. Beautiful rolling hills and tons of livestock. Real estate is country club colonial garages, cul-de-sacs, great accessibility. Hey, don't forget about the food, Josh. Tell them about the food. Grapes. We're talking about clusters of grapes that take two men to carry. And the soil. Don't forget about the soil. The soil is rich. We wouldn't have to water or fertilize. This is prime real estate. Right, guys? Caleb and Joshua scratched their heads and waited for the other spies to chime in. Right, guys? Hoshea spoke hesitantly. Uh, well, that's right, but that's not the whole story. Oh, yeah, we forgot to tell you about the infrastructure, great walls and roads, and great interstates with an HOV lane. Caleb, would you please give it a rest? Caleb and Joshua clammed up as the others chimed in. I'm talking about the people. They're huge, and lots of them. One look at us and well, there goes the neighborhood. They'll torture us, they'll hang us by our toenails, and the rest of the spies joined in, and they have lions and tigers and bears. Oh my! The crowd of Israelites and the members of the press began to murmur, and they move from murmuring to whining. We waited all these years for this. I didn't think it was gonna be this hard. We're a bunch of measly, codependent, dysfunctional tribes, and they're like first-round draft picks. And they panicked. I do believe in giants. I do believe in giants. I do, I do, I do. We're all gonna die terrible, horrible deaths. We don't have the money. Horrible deaths. We're like it'sy bitsy grasshoppers that are going to be just a greasy spot on the pavement of life as they mash us with their big toe. Then they tried to drown out Josh and Caleb. Look here, Moses, let's just cut our losses and head back to Egypt. We thought it was gonna be a good idea at first, but we are obviously outnumbered. Plus, Pharaoh's probably missing us. He might even give us some benefits, you know, water coolers at the pyramids, dental, you know, the works. Caleb and Joshua spoke up again. The grapes, the grapes. You forgot about the grapes, the huge grapes, and the land flowing with milk and honey. You can't see the grapes for the giants. We can take these guys. Caleb saw the grapes while most saw giants. Joshua saw the opportunities while the others saw obstacles. The fear and the moaning, the doubt and the groaning, and the people of God still live in the past. Why can't we go back to the itzy bitsy building and peri precious, our former pastor? We're tired of reaching people. Let's just worship and fellowship. Feed me, feed me, feed me. We want deeper Bible study. That's my seat. We've never done it that way before. We need to concentrate on getting our church down to a manageable size. They aren't new voices. They are the voice of Hoshea, Gadhai, Nabhai, as well as the other seven Israelites whose name escaped me at the moment. You see, no one recognizes their names after all those years. Nobody gives them a second thought. Just a short side note buried around Numbers 13, 4. They saw the giants. But we all know Caleb and Joshua. We name our children after them. 3,500 years later, verified Bible superheroes, they entered the promised land because they set their sights on the grapes and they believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They believed the promise, the mission. This is what the Lord says. The one who made the earth. He has a mission. One who established the oceans. He wants your faith. The one who spangled the sky. He wants you to believe in his extraordinary plan. The one who brings kings to their knees. He makes the giants of the earth look even smaller than grasshoppers. The one who numbers the stars, the giant slayer, calls unto me. He says, This incredible God, I will show you great and mighty things that you do not know. And that's scattered moments. Until next time, take care. Notice the scattered moments, especially the grapes.