Faith = Jesus > MeНамуна

Faith Shapes Our Perspective

In our daily life, what we see and hear shapes our perspective on life. The responses of those around us, especially in this age of social media, can influence our thoughts as well.

The Bible presents two fascinating stories that illustrate how what people see and hear can make a difference, and how faith can change the outcome. Let’s compare the story of the twelve spies sent to scout the land of Canaan with David’s battle against Goliath.

1. In both stories, there was something large and intimidating before them:

I Samuel 17:4-6:

“And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.”

Numbers 13:28:

“Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.”

2. The words they heard were also frightening:

I Samuel 17:8, 10:

“Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.......And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”

Numbers 13:31-33:

“But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

3. What were the responses of the people around them?

I Samuel 17:11:

When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Numbers 14:1-3:

“So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

4. But how did faith respond?

I Samuel 17:45-47:

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

Numbers 14:7-8:

“.. and they (Joshua and Caleb) spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.”

In the end, David became king, while Saul met a tragic death. The Israelites who rebelled wandered for 40 years until that entire generation perished, leaving only Joshua and Caleb to enter the Promised Land.

There may be daunting and terrifying problems before us, and the people around us may be in despair, unable to see a way out. Often, we receive discouragement rather than support. Yet the faith that God gives us, allows us to see and hear beyond all that. It will enable us to see that God is greater than what we see, what we hear, and what others say.

Choose faith.