Big Faith Required

I love the picture of Moses and the Children of Israel, painted by Marty Massey last night in our church business meeting.  Twelve spies were sent in to the Promised Land to give a report.  TEN of them came back and said “NO WAY!!  There are GIANTS in this land and we cannot take it!”  And Joshua and Caleb came back and said “GOD GIVES US THIS LAND!!”  And Moses was there with a tremendously difficult choice to make…

If you play the odds, you go with the 10.  If 10 of 12 men say NO WAY, then it makes the most sense to keep on walking.  All logic and understanding dictate that you follow the ten.  It makes sense.  It would keep the people happy, right??

HOWEVER … There is a variable present in life that we often overlook.  GOD was at work!!  God had already promised this land to Israel.  He was in the details and the Children of Israel were in a place where BIG FAITH would be required.  And had they not had big faith, they might still be wandering in the wilderness.

We are very much like the Children of Israel in a lot of ways.  In fact, when I look at what Moses faced, I’d like to think I can relate to him probably better than most people.  Moses would’ve been a great Baptist pastor.  He had people on his right and people on his left second-guessing decisions, direction, and every move the Children of Israel made.  Moses did make mistakes, but for the most part he followed God’s leadership.  He dealt with unhappy people and had to fight human logic with a call to faith in God (and he had to do that WITHOUT Proverbs 3:5-6 to quote constantly in his heart).  He constantly lived in a place and time when BIG FAITH was REQUIRED.

Now we Ebenezerites find ourselves in that same place.  Plans are being made and discussed.  And I wonder how much faith we will exercise??  How much will we lean on our own understanding?  How much will we follow HIS lead in such a big decision?