Since we were very young, we were told: “Look both ways!” That’s a basic safety drill to assure we can safely cross streets.
But it’s often fatal from a spiritual perspective.
If we look to God and we look to ourselves, if then we act on our own, we can easily get run over.
Don’t Look Both Ways
Think about the disaster stemming from ten of the twelve Israeli spies looking both ways.
Twelve were sent to spy out the Promised Land. They came back with a single cluster of grapes carried on a pole between two men. (Numbers 13:23) They agreed the land flowed with milk and honey. (Numbers 13:27)
Those are facts.
Ten of the twelve also said:
the people who live in the land are strong,
and the cities are fortified and very large;
and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. (Numbers 13:28)
and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight,
and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:33)
EEK!
Ten of the spies concluded:
“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” (Numbers 13:31)
And they criticized the Lord:
Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? (Numbers 14:3)
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:4)
Those ten saw the land through their own fears rather than through the Lord’s promises.
Two of the twelve, Caleb and Joshua, on the other hand, relied on the Lord’s promises:
“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”” (Numbers 13:30)
and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:7–9)
The Lord had His say as well:
“The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?” (Numbers 14:11)
Only Caleb and Joshua and those under 20 entered the Promised Land—40 years later.
Do you look both ways?
Suppose you are in a scary situation. You know what the Lord has said, what He has promised, what He wants you to do. But you also look at it with your own understanding and experience.
Who do you believe? Yourself? The Lord?
Do you choose to act on your own interpretation? Or do you choose to trust in the Lord’s promises?
It’s not easy. We must be determined to look to Him instead of ourselves. We must set our hearts and minds on trusting Him. With practice, we get better at this.
If we look both ways, if we act on our own interpretation, if we head off without the Lord, disaster awaits.
We have been warned. But the Lord has also equipped us to handle it (for example, 2 Peter 1:3).
