Happy New Year! Happy New Year in the sense that each day we are getting closer and closer to Christ’s return to the earth. So as we begin this new year I have some questions to ask of you and some answers to help you cope in this world filled with despair and fear. In other words an acid test. An acid test to examine our faith in God.
Are you an optimist or a pessimist?
Is your glass half empty or half full? Are you on the go or on the run ?
A lot of people are on the run these days. They are worried about the nuclear arms race, a cold war with continuing hot spots like Central America, Africa, Korea, or the Middle East. Then, there’s overpopulation, pollution or the paranoia that: “Big Brother is watching you.”
Of course, if these “big issues” don’t give you insomnia( there is always plenty of the nittygritty.) What about tomorrow’s test, next week’s rent or next month’s payment on whatever it is that you can’t seem to live without.
Everyone Has Fears. . . Do you Handle Them or They You?
No doubt about it, there’s plenty to be worried about. Everyone has fears, but the question is, “Do you handle your fears or do they handle you?”
One way to handle your fears is to be angry. Take out your frustrations on others. This is an easy cover-up to make you think you are being “brave and courageous.”
Of course, there’s always the passive approach to fear. Just jump on the bandwagon. Why sweat it? Play the percentages and be sure plenty of people are on your side.
The Bible reveals how various people reacted to fear. Some lashed out. Some jumped on the bandwagon. Some however, kept their cool. Because they had faith in God, they handed their fears instead of being handled by them.
Such an individual is Joshua, hero of the battle of Jericho. The old Negro spiritual gives us a rather stereotyped picbattle of Jericho and “de walls come a tumblin’ don.”
Just like that? It all seems a bit unrealistic. This strong and fearless Joshua we sing about is hard to get in focus. But what if you could step in Joshua’s shoes in some of the less glamorous moments ? You might get to know what made him tick.
Yes, you were right there with Moses through it all. You labored with the other Hebrew slaves in the brickyards of Egypt. You followed Moses out of Egypt through the Red Sea and into the wilderness. You came up through the ranks to become one of Moses’ trusted advisory.
As you and the other children of Israel struggled together with Moses through the wilderness toward the land of Canaan, you came across warring tribes. The Amalekites were one such group and you were picked as commanding officer of the Israelite forces in a battle with them at Rephidim.
And so Joshua, you and your men won the day but not without the aid of God. As long as Moses was on the hill above the battlefield, holding his hands high in the air over his head as a signal of faith in God, the battle went well, but when he let down his hands, Amalek prevailed. You had to be impressed with this unique power that came through Moses’ hands and an unlikely procedure that had Moses standing up there on the hill looking ridiculous all day long. None the less, it drove the point home. As long as Moses’ hands stayed up in the air, it signified that Moses and the rest of the children of Israel had faith in God.
But you had other experiences that built your character and faith. You would go with Moses to the Tabernacle of the congregation. But you Joshua, so reads Exodus 3:11, “departed not out of the tabernacle.”
Finally after a couple of years of hardship and struggle in the wilderness the children of Israel come to the southern border of the Promised Land. And so the Lord spake unto Moses that he should send in men that they may search out the land to see what it’s like and how hard it would be to conquer. And so one man from each tribe is sent out to spy out the land, and you are among them. Your duty: look the land over. How many people? What kind of military capabilities? What kind of fortifications? What kind of resources? What kind of crops? You and the other eleven spies spend forty days gathering your information and then you return to camp and meet with the entire band.
The excitement is building! Here are the children of Israel on the verge of achieving their goal. Can it be accomplished? Will it be worth it?
First the Positive
First comes the positive side. You show them samples of fruit and other produce. Yes, it’s a rich land flowing with milk and honey and worth having, but then comes the real shocker. Ten of the spies don’t hem and haw around: “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Num. 13:31-33).
But you and Cabeb aren’t joining with the ten who claim Canaan is invincible. Caleb speaks up and says, “Let us go up at once, and possess it! for we are well able to overcome it.” (Num. 13:30) But the other spies shout him down. They exclaimed the more vehemently that it couldn’t possibly be done and that it would be suicidal.
“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! . . . were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” (Num. 14: 1-3)
And so, Joshua, what have you been thinking all this time? Scripture doesn’t really say. We might infer from your silence that you are on Caleb’s side. On the other hand, you also may think the land is impregnable. People are murmuring and carrying on all around you and the time has come for you to speak. What will you say?
Well, obviously you could agree with the majority report and admit that your forces are no match for the fighting men of Canaan. After all, the ten spies aren’t lying. The warriors of Canaan are huge and muscular. And they do live in heavily fortified cities.
To agree with the majority report looks like the sensible thing to do. Being an optimist is one thing, but committing suicide is another. Except for one thing. Your forces have no better chance against the warriors of Canaan than they did against Amalek. But you had commanded the Israelite forces on the day they defeated the Amlekites. Why did your forces win ? Because God was with them.
Did the Ten Spies Forget God’s Power?
No doubt the other ten spies have forgotten God’s assistance in the victory at Rephidim. All they see are insurmountable odds and a hopeless situation. Trust in God is fine, but the facts are too overwhelming. And this certainly has you thinking, just how far can we push this idea of “having faith in God?” Just why should you buck the bandwagon?
But pursue the idea of going along with the majority a bit further. If you have any ideas about becoming the man in charge, now is the chance. All you have to do is agree with the other ten spies, then step forward and say, “I’m your man and I’ll lead you to safety and save you from this crazy man Moses.”
Well, what about the other point of view? Why not forget the majority? If they want to be unbelieving and faithless, let them go back into the desert without a leader. Choose a select few of faithful warriors and go in and conquer the land commando style. This is certainly a possibility. Getting rid of a lot of deadwood would probably make the task much easier.
And so brothers and sisters, Joshua had to make the choice facing anyone who claims trust in God: “Shall I be practical about this? Or shall I stand pat? Why try something that might fail? Or should I take a shot at it? Shall I see the opportunities instead of the problems?”
Have you ever thought about the possible connection between having the good sense to play it safe and simply being afraid? Not that you shouldn’t practice common sense, but often “let’s be sensible about this” is a nice little cop-out that excuses you from trying. To not try is the safer, more sensible way to go. If you don’t try, you can’t fail.
Failure is never much fun. A young man in the depths of despair wrote the following prayer. The subject is failure. No spiritual pat answers. The young man just empties his heart to God and tells him how it is to have a perfect record of zero.
Failure is Never Fun
“No one pays any attention to me or what I say, Lord. I’m nobody, I guess. I haven’t done anything important or made anything or won anything. No one listens when I talk, no one asks my opinion. I’m just there like a window or a chair.
I tried to build a boat once, but it fell apart. I tried to make the baseball team, but I always threw past third base. I wrote some articles for our school paper, but they didn’t want them. I even tried out for the school play, but the other kids laughed when I read my lines. I seem to fail at everything. I don’t try anymore because I’m afraid to fail. And no one likes to fail all the time.
If only there was something I could shout about, something I could make that was my work, only mine. And people would say, “You did that!” And my parents would say, “We’re proud of you, son!”
But I can’t do anything. Everyone else is so much better at everything than I am. The more I fail the more it eats away at me until I feel weak inside. I feel like I’m nothing.
Lord, the world seems full of heroes and idols and important people. Where are all the failures? Where are they hiding? Where are people like me? Did you ever fail, Lord? Did you? Do you know how I feel? Do you know what it’s like when everyone looks up at you and says: “He’s a failure.” ‘
We Should Never Quit Trying
Hopefully things aren’t quite as tough for you as they seem to be for this young man. He comes through as something less than positive. But the saddest thing about his prayer is the line that reads: “I don’t try anymore because I’m afraid to fail.” Such a paralyzing thing to be afraid to try because you might fail.
How about your own fears? How about your own failures? Go ahead and admit a few — nobody’s looking. Ask yourself, “Just what exactly is bugging me? What disturbs me about this?”
Christ taught many lessons about how to cope in this world and all of them centered on being willing to let go of things. Stop and think for a moment why you get upset and why you have fears. Isn’t it because you want something very badly? Isn’t it because you are afraid you will drop in social standing or lose your reputation? Isn’t your pride usually on the line.
If we really believe we are saved by the grace of God, why do we put so much emphasis on success? Search the pages of the Bible and you find no teaching that says, “Brethren, you have to be a success.” But you will find an awful lot of teaching that says, “Brethren I want you to try because you have faith in me.” Such examples are found in the parable of the talents and the parable of the two sons. The truth of the matter is that you don’t have to be successful. Not as far as God is concerned. God loves you with perfect love and perfect love is supposed to cast out fear.
And so as followers of Christ, we have this relationship with our Heavenly Father and his Son that allows us to communicate and ask for forgiveness and guidance. To give us strength and to cast out fear. To give us a freedom within a world in bonds. But you should also be free to be yourself — honestly and openly. And to know that within Christ’s love you are even free to fail.
Then you can relax and once you are relaxed that phenomenon known so well by athletes will occur. You will do a better job. You will perform at your true potential and you will know far more success than ever before. You won’t bat a thousand. You will probably still lose more than you win, but you will win your share.
So as we begin a new year, are you going to be an optimist or a pessimist? Will your glass be half empty or half full? Are you going to be on the go or on the run? Keep these things in mind and renew your faith in God daily as you meet the challenges of this new year.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One