One of my favorite topics is the power of our words. I’m not really a glass-half-full type of person, but the more I learn about the power of our words – the more I become disciplined in what I say – the more and more I find that I’m looking like the poster girl for positivity. I absolutely do not subscribe to the godless beliefs that are discussed in books like The Secret but seeing the power of our words over and over throughout scripture… well, I can’t help but latch onto God’s faithfulness.
If you’re at all familiar with my bric-a-brac blog of faith, you’ve probably read a post of two (or more) that I’ve written in regard to the power of our words. As soon as I hear any of the pastors at our church bring up the power of our words, I immediately flip open my Bible to Proverbs 18:21 – the power of life and death is in the tongue. Another familiar passage is found in James 3 – comparing the tongue to a small rudder that turns the entire ship or a tiny spark that engulfs a huge forest. Our words hold tremendous power.
My husband and I love talking about God. We discuss our individual quiet times or nuggets that we’ve been chewing on, we discuss sermons we’ve listened to, and we discuss preparations for our small group and how it went after. As a way for the kiddos to earn game time, we often have them read a few verses and explain them out in their own words with how to apply it to today. And we pray with purpose.
One of our more recent discussions took us back to Caleb and Joshua. I love their story! They spied out the land, they were bold and excited because of the strength of God, and they entered the Promised Land. But their words gave them life… More than they probably knew when they spoke them. Take a minute to read Numbers 13:26-33.
The Israelites had been freed from Egypt in an only-by-God’s-power fashion. Remember the 10 plagues? I feel like that would have been enough, but God parted the Red Sea so that His kiddos could walk across on dry ground. God annihilated the Egyptian army while the Israelites took a stroll. Then, if that wasn’t enough, He fed them and provided good drinking water while getting the Egypt out of them. Fastforward to Numbers 13, and God has instructed Moses to send a man from each tribe (12 people in all) to check out the Promised Land.
All of them come back and confirmed that it flowed with milk and honey… and look at how big this one cluster of grapes is! Took two of us carrying it to get it here! Y’all, our grapes are puny. It’s difficult to image one single cluster of grapes being so large that it took two men to carry it. But my mouth really starts to water when I think of the figs and pomegranates – if the grapes were gigantic, I bet the other fruits were on the larger side, too. They were impressed with what they saw in the food and resources… and then they inserted a big, fat, but.
You may not realize it, but our buts really do matter. In discussing the power of our words with our kiddos, we really drive it home that we don’t want them to ever lie about how they feel, but it matters where they put their but. As an example, if one of us brought home a nasty bug from the nursery at church, they might say I’m so sick, but I know that God has healed me and I’m on my way to feeling better! Now, if it’s the other way around, I know that God has healed me and I’m on my way to feeling better, but I’m so sick! It matters where we put our buts. Our faith will follow our buts.
From what we’ve read in Numbers 13:26-33, I’m guessing that the Israelites weren’t very familiar with this concept. They flew in on all the positive things they saw in the Promised Land… and landed on the negative. Not only did they land there, but they stuck the landing and dug their heels in.
Remember Caleb and Joshua? They saw the same things the other 10 spies had seen, but they decided to put their but in a different place. This is what Caleb and Joshua had to say to the entire Israelite assembly:
They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” Numbers 14:7-9 NLT
They have no protection, but the Lord is with us…
How many areas in my life would benefit from those words? How my faith would be strengthened if I just applied those five words, the Lord is with us. Caleb and Joshua shared what they saw with their eyes, but they landed with the firm reality of what they saw with their faith.
As we continue to read through Numbers 14, the power of the words spoken by the other 10 spies becomes evident. Like in the game Telephone, the bad report they were sharing spread and grew into something it never was. They were so afraid of what was in the land that they were ready to stone Caleb and Joshua. They were considering the size and strength of the giants in the land instead of the steadfast might of God.
And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?” Numbers 14:11 NLT
God was ready to destroy them all. Instead, God did what has always been His heart to do – He forgave them. He did not, however, remove the power of their words. Numbers 14:28, God informs them that they would have what they said – they would die in the desert. Only those who were under twenty years old would get to enjoy the land that God had promised them.
And the two spies who had minded their but and spoke their faith would experience life beyond the desert, too.
While I’m getting better at seeing the glass half-full, I needed this reminder. I will benefit more – my family will benefit more – if I focus on what God has promised rather than the giants I see in the land. They have no protection, but the Lord is with us…
I might just change that but into something else.
They have no protection because the Lord is with us. It kind of makes me excited to go up against a giant… because there’s no giant that is greater than my God.