I Spy

Recently, my daughters have become fascinated with the game I Spy and insist we play almost every time we are in the car.  If we're not searching for water towers, fire trucks, school buses, stop lights, or a random bird sitting on a telephone wire, we're singing silly songs at the top of our lungs.

Today, as we drove to the library for story time, those two games collided.  And as they did, God shook my world, whispering in my ear yet again.  Though I must say, He seems to be speaking the same message over and over again, through different people in different settings, totally unrelated to each other.  Yet, each person seems to be connecting one dot to another, building on what the other has said, until the light bulb really goes off in my head as the words finally start to penetrate down to my heart!

This morning, my oldest girl - Coralyn (age 5) - wanted to sing a solo, showing me a song she had learned on her own.  I was expecting something new that I had never heard before, so when she broke out in "Who's the King of the Jungle?" I was somewhat surprised, seeing as how I sing this particular song regularly with them in the car and at home as well.  BUT, apparently, she is just now memorizing the lyrics and able to sing them on her own, in her own rendition, leaving out a few phrases but still getting the point across - JESUS is King.  In deed, after finishing, she informed me with pride and excitement, "It's like Jesus is even the King of all the other kings!"

I smiled and explained there was a song about that, then proceeded to try to teach her, "King of kings and Lord of lords, Glory, Halleujah!  Jesus, Prince of peace, Glory, Halleujah!"  

After listening to several rounds, Coralyn interrupted me to inform me that it was too long and hard for her to sing and burst into "Zaccheus was a wee little man..."

When she was done, I told her we should learn another new song, one of my favorites from camp.  I began, "12 went out to spy on Canaan.  10 were bad and 2 were good..."  We have sung this one before, so Coralyn and Kellah (3 years old) somewhat joined in,

"What did they see when they got to Canaan?  

10 were bad, and 2 were good.  

Some saw giants big and tall.  

Some saw grapes and clusters faaaaaallll.  

Some saw God was overall.  

10 were bad and 2 were good."

We went through the song several times, attempting to go faster each time like we do at camp.  As we turned to pull into the library parking lot, I asked the girls if they knew what the song was talking about in the Bible.  Coralyn proceeded to share that she thought it was about David.  Guessing the whole giant thing was why she put the story with his name.  I told them it was rather about the people of Israel getting ready to go into the Promised Land after they had left Egypt and been freed from slavery under Pharaoh.  I went on to say how Moses sent 12 men into the land to see what they would need to do to take over the Promised Land God was giving them.  As the song goes, 10 men were "bad," reporting that the people of the land were big and strong and couldn't possibly be defeated, there was no way to enter Canaan.  Only 2 men, Joshua and Caleb, saw that "God was overall" and remembered His promise to give them the land and encouraged the people to go in with confidence and fight and trust God to grant them victory.  I asked the girls who they thought the people listened to and what they decided to do.  They were sure the Israelites sided with Joshua and Caleb!!!  How sad they didn't.  I explained how the people instead chose to be afraid of the people and didn't believe God could beat them, and because of their lack of faith, they had to wander around in the wilderness.  Devastated, Coralyn immediately wanted to know if they eventually got to go into the Promised Land.  I assured her that ONLY Joshua and Caleb did, because they were the only ones who had trusted God.  Everyone else ended up dying in the desert.  

As we parked the car and got ready to head into the library for story time, God was working on my heart BIG time.  

You see, this past weekend in Florida at the It Works Conference, my husband and I were challenged about our purpose and calling in life.  One would think we went there to learn more about the health and wellness products we offer, how to run a successful business, and all those type of things, BUT instead we left inspired to live out our faith, to follow hard after Jesus, to pursue the dreams He has placed in our hearts, and give it our all to make Him known and bring massive amounts of glory to His name.  

One of the speakers, John-Erik Moseler, was there to educate us on using social media more effectively, but as he shared about Facebook and Instagram and Twitter, he talked about inviting people to go on an ADVENTURE with you.  He got all spiritual, referencing the Israelites and their time as slaves in Egypt.  He shared how God had freed them and ushered them to the Promised Land, but they weren't ready for that.  They were stuck in the past, making bricks for Pharaoh, when they should have freely entered Canaan and enjoyed the land flowing with milk and honey.  

What was holding them back, preventing them from living the life they were offered?

FEAR!

As Moseler gave this illustration, my husband leaned over to me and asked if our pastor had talked about this recenlty in a sermon.  Nope.  BUT, we have been going to a Jewish Roots Class called Hayesod on Tuesday nights, and guess what was mentioned in the DVD that very week?  Buidling bricks for Pharoah!!!  

Um, you think maybe God is trying to tell us something?!!!

Oh wait, there's more...

Remember, back in November, when I went on that Women's Retreat and was greatly impacted by one of the speakers we heard via DVD?  

Christine Caine's words were laying a foundation for a mighty work God is preparing to do in our lives.  I wrote down in my journal, "Wilderness did NOT deny freedom.  It spoke of DELIVERANCE.  Freedom was in Canaan."  There's the story of the Israelites again.  Being freed from slavery in Egypt and led to the Promised Land.  She went on, and I scribbled, "Don't settle for deliverence when you have been offered freedom."  

Moseler's words from the Conference stage, 2 months later, echoed Caine's message, "If you're in the wilderness, KEEP GOING.  The Promised Land is just ahead!!!"  Almost as if he was confirming the question she posed to the audience at the IF Gathering, "Why live in the wilderness delievered when you can enjoy the Promised Land FREE?!"  

I ask again, You think maybe God is trying to tell us something?!

And so this morning, as I finished singing a fun childhood song, the words hit me like a ton of bricks (pun intended).  The entire time I was explaining the meaning of the lyrics and the story behind them, God was nudging me, speaking the same truths to MY adult heart.

Don't be like the 10 spies.

Don't let the fear of men keep you from doing what I have called you to do.

Don't let the big, scary, humanly impossible tasks in front of you overwhelm you.

Don't forget that I have DELIVERED you, purchasing you with the very blood of my One and Only Son.  Don't lose sight of the fact that I have LED you out of slavery, that I have BROUGHT you to the Promised Land, that nothing is too difficult for Me to overcome, that I ALWAYS keep My Word, and that I have invited you to ENJOY the FREEDOM I bought for you at such a great price.

Don't keep building bricks for Pharaoh when you have been set free.

Don't stay in the wilderness, wandering around lost, when God has shown you the way to the Promised Land AND assured you free passage inside to enjoy all the blessings He has to offer.

Don't settle for the desert when you have been delivered for the sake of entering the Promised Land.

Don't miss out on the dreams and destinies God has for you because you are scared of what people might think as you pursue those passions God is stirring up inside you.

Don't miss out on who you are created and designed to be because you worry what might happen if you fail or mess up or make a mistake or stumble and fall.  Remember, God's power is best displayed through our weaknesses.  And if you recall, He's quite good at making masterpieces out of our messes.  Furthermore, He seems to take great delight in showcasing His ability to do the impossible, to shame the wise and humble the proud, to work in unconventional ways, to use the least likely people to fulfill the greatest of tasks.  Finally, camp out on the reality that our God is pleased to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever begin to dare to imagine.

Time and time again, God has proven Himself faithful.

He never lies or leads us astray.

He always does just as He says.

And yet, all too often we tend to bail and join the 10 spies who doubted God's ability to defeat their enemies and give them the Promised Land.

We fear.

We worry.

We fret.

We doubt.

We hesitate.

We wander.

We give up.

We hang our heads in despair.

When what we need to be doing is "fixing our eyes on Jesus" and "running with endurance the race set before us."

We need to "fight the good fight of the faith," battling for our freedom and "holding tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise."

We MUST remember that victory is already ours.

And thus, we MUST be willing to leave the wilderness, to stop making bricks for Pharaoh, and to enter the Promised Land.

Only then can we truly live the abundant life God has called us to live, to carry out the plans and purposes prepared in advance for us to do, to see our God-given, divinely inspired dreams come true, to become the men and women God created us to be.

I don't know about you, but I spy "giants big and tall" all around me.

BUT, I am not focused on that.  

I will NOT let fear hold me back.  

Instead, I look past them to the "grapes and clusters," all the GOOD things God has to offer.  

I CHOOSE to remember "God is over all."  

And I side with Joshua and Caleb.  

I say, "Let's enter the Promised Land today!"

I'm done making bricks for Pharaoh.

Who's with me?