Just Do It

Have you ever been told by God to do something that you didnt believe you could do? Today we will explore what happens in the life of those who know God and when they are commanded to do something believe that they cannot achieve what God has commanded of them. We will not stand today as our Scripture is vety long and will take some time to get through. Turn with me to Numbers 13:1-33 and Numbers 14:1-38

Before we read the scripture I want to set some history of how we got to the place we are at with the Israelites. The Israelites have left Egypt and have been in the dessert for weeks now watching God perform His miracles, proving His ability to take care of the Israelites. He freed them from Egypt where they watched God send Plague after Plague. They have followed God as a cloud by day and a Pillar of fire by night, they have seen God part the waters and kill every egyptian warrior. They have been provided food and clothing that never ended while on this trip. Last week you heard Art preach about how God took them around the long way to protect them and to strengthen them. God did this so that He could show the Israelites that He was their power and He was their strength and all they had to do was listen to Him. God now brings the Israelites back to the promised land becasue He has shown the people many miracles and many signs, and all of His power and now all they have to do is go and take the land He promised them.

Bob Vernon, formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, tells of how the Department would test bullet-proof vests&md;and demonstrate to rookie officers their value&md;by placing them on mannequins and then shooting round after round at them. They'd then check to see if any of the rounds penetrated the vests. Invariably the vests would pass the test with flying colors. Vernon would then turn to the rookie officers and ask, "So who wants to wear it now instead of the mannequin?"

No matter how many rounds the vest stopped the recruits did not trust it enough to save them. The Israelites are in the same spot with God. Read with me, Numbers 13/14.

Today we will see 3 things that happened here. First we will see the First Sight, we will then look at the Second Thoughts, and lastly we will see the Final decision.

The First Sight

The Israelites were finally able to see the land that they had been promised. They spent the last hundred years as captives in the land of Egypt and they were finally freed by God and they were freed and given a promise that they will have their own land and their own country where they will call home and will not be slaves to anyone. They are finally getting to see the gift they have been promised.

There was excitement all through the orphanage, for a lady had come to take little Jane home with her. The girl was sort of nervous about the thought of becoming the kind ladies child, "Do you want to go with me and be my child?" the lady asked her in a gentle tone.

The little girl said,” I don’t know,"

Then the kind lady said, "But I’m going to give you beautiful clothes and a lot of things, a room of your own with a beautiful bed and table and chairs."

After a moment’s silence, the little girl said anxiously: "But what am I to do for all this?"

The lady burst into tears and said, "Only to love me, and be my child."

The Israelites were there there, they could see the gift that they were promised and all they had to do was to take hold of what God promised them. To love God and to trust God. What things has God promised you, what blessing has He called you too. You are on the edge of the promise looking in and the excitement and anticipation are killing you and now it is time to simply go in and take the things God has promised you. Remember what the Israelite spies said when they returned? Numbers 13:25-27

Numbers 13:25–27 ESV

At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

They were so excited about what was in the Land! It was there, all that God had promised was there! All that God has promised you is there and the challenge is stepping out and taking it. So what is stopping you? The same thing that stopped the Israelites. You are having second thoughts becasue you are not sure you will be able to make it. You are not sure that you will survive financially or physically. It is scary.

The Second Thoughts

Numbers 13:28–29 ESV

However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

Numbers 13:31–33 ESV

Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Numbers 14:1-10

Just like the Israelites you begin to let that fear set in. You second guess what it is that God has called you to do. After all what if you cannot do it? What if you fail? Have you ever considered that it is impossible for you to fail? Are there things that God has told you to do but you have said you do not think you are strong enough or able enough to do it? What do you think all of those tough times in your life are about? When you look back at them now they are about God showing you His power. Were those things fun to go through? certainly not but you are here today. Why are you here today? Not becasue you picked yourself up or did anything because you cannot do a thing without God.

John 5:30 ESV

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Galatians 6:3 ESV

For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

The trials in your life were not to make you stronger they were there to bring you to an understanding that only God can get you through. There are those of you in here this morning that God has given commands to follow through too and you simply say that you are not strong enough or able enough and you are correct you are not but He is. All the struggles the Israelites went thorough was not about them being stronger or more capable, it was about them seeing how capable God was and how they simply had to walk and to listen, and to love God. You must take the step today to follow where God is calling. Just Do It!

we have a pool at our house now and we love swimming with the kids. The other day I put the ladder up on the house and I said I was going to jump off and into the pool. I knew that once I was up there that I had to just set my mind on going and jump. If I stood at the edge too long I would make up all the reasons why I could not do it. So I stepped back and ran. I jumpped off the roof and into the pool. Guess what? I survived and had a great time. Then my kids because they saw their daddy do it, they followed and had a great time jumpping off the roof into the pool. Their mother almost killed me but that is besides the point.

It is time to stop having second thoughts. It is time that the world sees that Christians are confident in their God. That we trust God and know that he will come through when we go where He commands us to and do what He commands us to. Faith in God is not only going to the places you feel are safe, Faith is going into places that only God can bring you out of. It is living fearless of what the World can do to you and living Faithful in knowing what God will do for you. What is the outcome of either decision? You will either decied that you want to step out and follow God and recieve His blessing by following Him or you will decide that you are too scared. Numbers lays out the outcomes of both of these decisions. What is your Final Decision?

The Final Decision

Are you going to follow where God tells you to go? Are you too afraid and not trusing enough of the God of the Universe? What are the outcomes of the two options. Lets look first at the ones who choose that they cannot do what God calls them to do.

Numbers 14:20-36

Those who choose to believe that God cannot handle the life He has called them too will die outside of His blessing and will never experience the full wonder of His Blessing. Do you really want to die outside of the blessing of God and never fully understanding the great life that God can give you? No it may not be a rich life, it may not be full of travels and wonders. It will be a fulfilled life, a life that leaves a legacy. Do you want to know what it is life to do what God has called you to do?

Numbers 13:30 ESV

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Numbers 14:24 ESV

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

We know that Joshua went on to lead people of Israel through to the promised land and Caleb with Him. Becasue of their faithfulness in trusting God they got to experience the fullness of His blessing. What will your final decision be. Maybe you are being called to the mission field and dont know where to start, we can help with that. Maybe you are being called to reconcile a relationship, do it. Maybe you are being called to give your hear to the Lord, do it!