Gospel Reflections #933: Just Cry Out to God.

Numbers 13:33 "We also saw the Nephilim there, descendants of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We seemed like grasshoppers to ourselves, and we must have seemed the same to them."

This is the climax of the scene where ten of the twelve spies sent to scout the land of Canaan delivered an unfaithful report.

The spies compared themselves to the Canaanite natives (the Anakim) and described themselves as being "as small as grasshoppers."

This was not merely a comparison of physical size; it symbolised self-abasement born of unbelief, where they saw the immediate difficulties as greater than God's promise. 

The term "Nephilim" they used refers to the legendary giants of pre-Flood times.

Though they should have been destroyed in the Flood, the spies, overcome by fear, exaggerated their opponents to the level of "mythical monsters" in their report.

Fear often causes us to overestimate reality and underestimate God's power. 

The phrase "it must have appeared so to them" indicates not that the enemy actually said this, but that, having lost their own confidence, they assumed the enemy must be mocking them.

We are constantly tested to see whether we view things from "God's perspective" or from "the perspective of our own weakness".

We cannot handle fear on our own, but we know a God greater than our fear.

Our faith is always placed before fear and anxiety.

This is because we know it is the place where we can most experience God being with us.

When we cannot turn ourselves around, we can cry out to God for help.

For our God is the One who always hears our cry!

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.