Grasshopper Mentality

When Moses sent twelve spies to scout out the land of promise, only two, Caleb and Joshua, brought back a good report. The other ten were fearful of the inhabitants. This is what the fearful spies said, “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” (Num. 13:33 NKJV).

The evil report of the fearful spies resulted in their own immediate death by a plague. A judgment against the older generation of those twenty years old and above would prevent them from entering the land and result in their death in the desert wilderness over a forty-year period of time. The whole nation’s entry into the promised land would be delayed forty years.

Remember the identity problem the ten fearful spies had? “We were like grasshoppers in our own sight.” What causes people to have a grasshopper mentality? These spies were looking at their own shortcomings, inabilities, and weakness; while not believing in the strength, greatness, and power of God.

The ten spies feared death, but they died anyway. They were afraid their children would become victims, but those under twenty years old (their children) would be the warriors who would conquer the inhabitants of Canaan.

Grasshoppers do not win victories. They see fortified cities and giant warriors, then run from the fight. They see a land of milk and honey, but do not believe it is for them to eat. They retreat, desiring to return to their known bondage in Egypt. They retrace their weary steps in a barren desert until they die.

Forty-five years later, after they had defeated most of their enemies in the promised land, Joshua and Caleb (the two faithful spies) had a conversation. These are the words of Caleb to Joshua, the Israelite leader:

“You know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.

Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God. So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 

And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. 

Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said."

Joshua 14:6-12 NKJV

The next verse, “And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance” (Joshua 14:13 NKJV).

Too often, we see ourselves as who we think we are. If our mindset is misguided by our own thoughts, feelings, and emotions, then the result is a defeated self-image that is not of God. Added to our own wrongful thinking is the outside ungodly influence of naysayers and doubters.

If the devil can convince you that you are defeated, then he has bound you in leg-irons and hung the key within laughable reach.
If the devil can sway you away from the viewpoint of being created in the image of God, then he has pierced your spirit without the thrust of a spear.
If the devil can portray your enemies as strong and your God as weak, then you will run from every imaginable battle and hide when no one is looking.

(HLW)

Listen to these words of Jesus, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NKJV).

Be a Caleb, not a grasshopper!

Yours on the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt