
For the last few days we have been discussing the issue of turning back in the face of opposition. Here are some of the reasons why people turn back, as indicated by the scriptures:
- Their minds are saturated with information about the strength of their enemies.
“Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan” (Numbers 13:27-29 NKJV).
- They focus on the enemy. If you focus on what Satan is doing you will forfeit what God is doing.
And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:32-33 NKJV).
- Because others despise them.
And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. (I Samuel 17:42 NKJV).
Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (I Timothy 4:12 NKJV).
- They’re more conscious of themselves than they are of God.
There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:33 NKJV).
To be continued tomorrow…
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