by Rich Bregitzer
(St. Louis, MO)
Numbers 13:1-15, 17-21, 26-28, 31, 33
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders."
3 So at the LORD's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 4 These were their names: Shammua, Shaphat, Caleb, Igal, Joshua, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo a Hamath.
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large…”
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are… We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
“You can’t do it.” “It’s impossible” “You are going to lose” Have you ever been told any of those things. Maybe you were told something like that by someone who was a bit intimidating or by a rival. How did you respond?
At those times we don’t need anyone to tell us we can’t do it or that it is impossible because we have pretty much already convinced ourselves that that is the case.
Feeling overwhelmed is a terrible feeling.
Perhaps you have felt that way when you worked at a job that you didn’t like. You wake up and feel like you just can’t deal with it…maybe you even call in sick…you rationalize that the last week was bad so why should today be any different?
For most of us that feeling can come on rather quick. Everything was fine and now all of a sudden something happens and we are devastated, frozen with fear or anxiety or worry or dread.
I’ve been there and I can relate. Let me tell you a little story:
One of the worst and most eventful times I ever had was during a float trip I took with my dad, sister and God-father. My dad had a great old raft. It was the type that had wooden bench seats in it and it would easily hold somewhere between 6 and 9 people.
So, one day we decide to put in just above the dam on the Grand River. Dad got the small 2 HP motor out and had it leaning up against a tree. My sister and I were standing off to the side while Uncle Bill and my dad got supplies together.
Suddenly the motor shifted and plopped right into the river. I cried out to my dad who instinctively turned and jumped in…not to get the motor, but because he had thought my sister had fallen in.
I suppose the safety of his kids was pretty close to the surface of his thought process…so he had assumed it was my sister who was at peril.
Unfortunately, the motor had fallen in to a pretty deep hole right up next to the river bank.
Dad dove about 4 times and finally got it.
We were fortunate that it started because otherwise we would have to drive several miles upriver and float down towards the dam.
But since the motor still worked we would be able to put in by the dam and troll upstream against the river’s current.
It would be a few hours later that my dad would realize that though he had found the motor that he had lost his wallet while trying to get it.
We spent hours on the Grand River that day.
My God-father had brought a small Hibachi grill and we had hot dogs. We fished a little and then we found some shallow rapids that you could body surf on.
What you would do is find a place between two rock shelves and anchor yourself there until the water pressure built up behind you and sent you shooting off down the river.
It was great fun…until I noticed something best left unnoticed.
I was in one of the shoots, clinging to a rock when I noticed that this particular shelf had a little hallowed out spot right where the water lapped up against it.
Coiled inside that spot was an
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