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The Grasshopper
Syndrome
.
When we are reluctant to battle the giants we
face, we end up in wandering in the spiritual wilderness. Instead of running away from our giants, stay
strong and face them - they are not greater than the One who lives in
us. The giant you face today might be fear, depression, discouragement,
loneliness, bitterness, weakness, health issues or financial problems -
whatever
it is, remember, it is not bigger than our God. He is Greater than everything.
by Carol Yasin
One of the great challenges in
our life is to see things in God’s perspective and stop seeing it from our
view.
Each one of us has that
challenge to visualize our life in line with God.
And our decisions depend on
how we focus on it and many times the decisions are crossroads. We need to get
hold of our decisions seriously as we cannot reverse what we have taken.
Today, let us look into the
story of Israelites. They were brought out of the land of Egypt by God and they
witnessed how God has been miraculously leading them to the Promise Land.
And when they finally arrived
at the border of the land, they faced a big challenge blocking their way into
the Promised Land. What was that?
We will learn from the story
of the Israelites and how are we facing the same today!
Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti,
Geul, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Suthur, Nahbi… Have you ever heard these names
before? Does it sound familiar to you?
No! Have you heard of Joshua
and Caleb? Now you might relate to the people I am referring to.
Those were the names of the
ten spies who got into the Canaan to spy the land.
They came back with the
negative report scaring the Children of Israel and influencing them to disobey
God’s instruction to enter into Canaan and possess the land.
Only Joshua and Caleb came up
with the positive report.
God has already given the land
of Canaan to the children of Israel.
God has promised them and the
only thing the people of Israel has to do is, go into the land and possess it.
They have to just claim the
land which was already provided by the Lord.
“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 ten spies first
acknowledged that what God was about to give us is indeed a land of milk and
honey. And their report followed a ‘but’ clause. “But we cannot claim it as the people living in it were giants...”
In verse 33, the spies
say, “we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in
their sight.”
God knows already that these
people living in Canaan were giants. He didn’t ask for the report.
The problem is, they focused
on themselves instead of focusing on the promises of God.
They have seen the plagues in
Egypt. They have seen the Lord bringing them out of Egypt.
They have seen the Lord
parting the red sea for them. They have seen God providing them food in the
desert. But still…
And we too sometimes, fall
into the same category. We have seen God leading us miraculously in our life.
But nevertheless, when we face
a problem, we get discouraged seeing the giants before us and forgetting the
God who is greater than others.
We sometimes get the
‘Grasshopper syndrome’ and we stop from proceeding further.
Have you ever been felt this
way? Are there areas of your life where you have not yet lived by faith because
you fear what seems difficult or impossible by your own abilities or resources?
In this incident, there were
two persons who gave a positive report as they had faith in God.
“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses,
and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to
overcome it.’” - (Numbers 13:30)
Caleb and Joshua focused on
the words of God and had a desire to obey it and their confidence was in doing
the God’s will. (Numbers 14:8-9)
There were two reports from
the 12 spies and sadly, the Israelites murmured against God heeding their ear
to the 10 spies who gave a pessimistic report.
This is what the grasshopper
syndrome does. Many times, I have failed to carry out the task given by the God
only because of the fear to face the challenge.
When God gives us a task to
do, He has already prepared us for that task. But, unfortunately, we behave
like the Israelites seeing the giants before us.
Now, these are the symptoms of
the ‘Grasshopper Syndrome’:
1. Doubted heart:
In spite of the God’s promised
words to the Israelites, they always had a doubt in their heart always looking
the positive as negative.
They had witnessed God’s doing
in their physical eyes. They have been overshadowed by the cloud by day and
warmed by the pillar of fire at night.
Besides seeing these things,
they have a doubted heart. When things do not come out the way we hoped for, we
start doubting and we lose our trust in God.
Hebrews
3:12 (NIV) - “See to it, brothers and
sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from
the living God.”
2. Double minded:
If you have noticed the
Grasshoppers, they keep on hopping from one place to place rather than sitting
in one place.
And the same does our mind. It
keeps wandering from place to place without being steady. Hence, it is easier
for the devil to attack our mind if it is not kept steady.
When this syndrome affects us,
we just can’t focus on the promises of God.
Though we see the things that
God has done in our life, the next minute, fear fills our mind thinking about
our future and the failures in the past.
When I was pregnant with my
daughter, I was filled with happiness as God has promised us with so many
things about her.
At times, I would be happy and
suddenly, a fear would fill my mind thinking about the stillborn child in the
previous pregnancy.
That’s how the devil plays
with our mind trying to make us believe that, God’s promised would fail which
is a total lie.
The Grasshopper syndrome
causes us to doubt God’s word and His faithfulness.
Instead of acting like
children of the king, we live as if we were paupers unable to fulfill God’s
will. We lack faith, are double minded and unaware of who we really are in
Christ.
James
1:6-8 - “but let him ask in faith, with
no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by
the wind. For let, not that man suppose that he will receive
anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all
his ways.”
3. Inferiority Complex:
See what
the ten spies said. They reported that “we look like grasshoppers”.
And that’s what the Satan
does. He tries to convince us that we are unworthy and make us believe that he
is stronger than us.
I
remember the day when I started writing for God. The first thing that Satan
tried to implant in my mind was, “my writings are not good and I am
unfit to write”.
If I have heard those voices
in my mind, I would have stopped writing and penning it down what God wants me
to.
This syndrome will always make
us feel inferior to others and try to destroy our self-image in God.
So, what should we do if we
are affected by this syndrome?
First thing is we need to heed
our ears to the positive reports from God as Joshua and Caleb did. Remember
that they are the only two people from their generation to enter into the
promise land.
The
second thing is we need to remember that the battle starts from our mind. The
areas of our thoughts are the main battleground. That’s why Paul asks us to
renew our mind in God (Romans 12:2)
Thirdly, remember that God has
already provided us the weapons to win on the battlefield. We need to just use
our weapons to fight against the enemy instead of looking them as giants and
staying out of the Promised Land.
So, what are these weapons? It
is none other than the Word of God. Paul says about the armor of God in
Ephesians.
We are
instructed to ‘Take the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.’ - (Ephesians 6:17)
We know the outcome of the
disobedience of Israel. Instead of entering into the Promised Land, they
wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
In our life as well, when we
are reluctant and fail to battle the giants we face, we end up in wandering in
the spiritual wilderness.
The Israelites, by running
away from the giants, didn’t escape from them.
Once the generation of
disobedience died, they came and stood at the same point to face the same
giants to enter into the Promised Land.
So, friends, instead of
running away from the giants we are facing, stay strong and face them and they
are not greater than the One who is living in us.
Yes, we cannot win the battle
alone. But when the Captain of our ship is our God, we are on the victory side.
Friends, I don’t know what giants you are
facing in your life today.
It might be fear, depression, discouragement,
loneliness, bitterness, weakness, health issues, and financial problems.
Whatever it is, remember, it is not bigger than
our God. He is Greater than everything.
When you are on God’s side, you can determine
who the grasshopper is!
Only thing is “The CHOICE is YOURS”. It is time
for us to stand up and confront the giants and win the battle. God bless!
“Rooted in His Word” is inspired
from the verse Colossians 2:6-7. This site helps us to get deep-rooted in His word and
get nourished, as a tree is deeply rooted in the soil. Just as the house stands
fast because it is built on strong foundations, so our life is resistant to any
storm because it is founded on the strength of Christ.
Murmuring or complaining is one of those sins that are
overlooked. 
In this passage, we read how the Israelites, who were
desperately thirsty, looked only at the fact that the water they had come to
was bitter and undrinkable.
