In my last newsletter article I wrote about how the twelve spies who went into the land of Canaan saw the land from two different perspectives. The 10 saw the land from the perspective of what they could do, but the two, Joshua and Caleb, saw the land of promise from the perspective of what God could do. The report of the two was very different as the one group focused on the fact that there were giants, cities with high walls, and they saw the power of the people of the land but none of them saw God except Joshua and Caleb.
What difference will seeing God in the equation of our circumstances make in our lives? What I would like to look at in this news letter article is an obscure passage in the book of Joshua chapter 16 where it speaks of the allotment of land for the tribe of Manasseh. It says in verse 10: (NIV) They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor. (Josh 16:10) What do we see in this verse? We see that they were not able to do what God said that they would be able to do. God had said that he would go before them and drive the inhabitance out of the land. Yet the sons of Manasseh were not able to accomplish what God had said they would be able to accomplish. Why not? Is God’s word not trustworthy or was there something else wrong in this situation?
We get a little glimpse of the problem when you look at the next chapter. If you look at Chapter 17 starting in verse 12 we see that once again it says that Manasseh was not able to occupy the towns of the Canaanites. Then in the next few verses we have the people of Manasseh complaining to Joshua that their inheritance is a little squeezed and asking for more land. Joshua tells them that they have all the land that they need, all they have to do is go and take it. Again we see the perspective that God would be with the Manassites if they would go forth. In verse 16 we see the reason that the Manassites were not able to take the land that God had given them was because they saw iron chariots rather than God. Josh 17:16 “The people of Joseph replied, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth Shan and its settlements and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”” To the person who does not see God, the iron chariots can be pretty menacing; after all they were the tanks of the ancient world.
People who see God rather than their circumstance do not see obstacles, they only see potential, but people who do not see God can only see failure. You see that, if we look at our circumstance without seeing God we will always come up short in the resource category. But when God is at the center of our vision our resources are unlimited. Iron chariots are no match for the infinite power of God. David found that to be true in 2 Samuel 8:3-4 where he was able to capture 1000 of Hadaezer’s iron chariots.
What is your circumstance? What are the iron chariots in your life? Maybe it is a child that has wondered from the church and is wondering in the world. Do you see God in your equation or your own resource? Maybe it is the spouse that does not believe? Do you see God in your circumstance? Maybe it is a financial problem that is way beyond your own resource. I ask you again, do you see God as your own resource? As a Church do we see the iron chariot of our own limited power or do we see the potential of God? Let us look through the eyes of faith and through the promises of God so that together we can embrace the victory of God.
