In the early 1900's Robert Ripley realised he was onto something. He later became the founder of the now worldwide Ripley's Believe it or Not franchise. I don't think we have one in New Zealand but I have seen one at The Peak in Hong Kong. Ripley seemed to specialise in finding freakish things that would fascinate a certain side of human nature.
How many times have you heard and said the words "I can't believe it"? It can be for good things (like winning Lotto, though you probably haven't said it for that reason!), or because you can't believe someone would be so generous, skilful, or even stupid. I had a dear Korean friend in Hong Kong who often exclaimed "unbelievable!". We used to tease her.
In reading Numbers 13 and 14 this morning I was struck by the unbelief of the Israelites. Twelve men had been sent to spy out the land of Canaan (the land promised to them by God). They spent 40 days checking out the land and found that it was indeed a 'land flowing with milk and honey' (13:27). They also carried back proof of the bounty of the land, a cluster of grapes so large that 2 men carried it on a pole. Now that's unbelievable!!
They reported briefly on the bounty of the land then prefixed their next statement with 'nevertheless', (in other words BUT) .....'the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are large and fortified, not only that we saw giants there.' Two men of faith, Caleb and Joshua, stood up and bravely took the 10 to task. 'Let us go up', said Caleb, ' for we are well able to overcome them.' But the 10 persisted in unbelief.....They went on to say that they felt like grasshoppers when they saw these giants and that's how we looked to them! (13:33). They projected how they felt about themselves onto the other people. How often do we do that?
The people listened to the fear-filled report and wept. They refused to believe that God would help them conquer, instead they had a pity party. Consequently they missed out on the blessing of seeing what God wanted to do for them because over the next 40 years they all died in the wilderness, except Joshua and Caleb and the younger generation. These were the people who went on to conquer that same land 40 years later!
This morning I came across a quote I'd written in an old Bible years ago......."There is no strength in unbelief." George MacDonald. Now that's worth pondering.
Has God encouraged you to believe him for something? Don't let doubt and unbelief rob you of the blessing of seeing how God is able to work things out.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive me for not believing that you are able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or even think. Help me to believe. Amen
1 comment:
If you are anything like me, I always have a little doubt when asking God for something amazing. Not doubt about God but doubt that God would bless even me with a miracle. Maybe trusting God also has a side story about believing in our own worth to be blessed by Him.
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