Believing in the promised land

This morning the kids and I were sitting at the table reading our Bible story for school over breakfast.  Today's selection from Numbers told of the twelve men sent to explore the land of Canaan.  Although they returned with tales of the land's bounty, ten of the men wrote off any possibility of entering the land due to the power of the people already living there.  Only two held on to the promise from the Lord.  Joshua and Caleb reminded the Israelites that "If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.  Only do not rebel against the Lord.  And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up.  Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us.  Do not be afraid of them."  Numbers 14:8-9  As a result of their belief in God's promise, Joshua and Caleb would be the only ones to enter the Promised Land.   All the others, not believing in the power of God to keep His promise despite all the miracles that they had witnessed, would perish during the 40 year exile in the desert.  What blessings would have awaited them if only they had believed!

We talked about the way that God makes it possible for His promises to be fulfilled, even if there are huge obstacles in the way.   I pointed to the Build a Church bank on the table, and likened it to a mountain.  Would a tiny ant be able to move it?   Of course not.  As my son pointed out, he'd squash himself trying.  But to us, it's easy to pick it up and move it.  We made the connection that we are like those little ants sometimes, facing huge obstacles that are in between us and God's plans.  If we try to move them on our own, not only will we fail, but we're likely to be squashed trying.  God is the only one who can move those mountains, and for Him, they aren't mountains at all.    We talked about the importance of believing the promises that God gives us, even when it looks like there is no way that they can happen.

"Kids, did you know that God has given Mama and Daddy a promise?"  I thought that I was going to tell them about building a church, since I'd been sitting there using the bank as a prop.  But instead, I found myself telling them that God had let us know that another child would be joining our family.  That we didn't know when ~ maybe this year, maybe many years from now ~ and that we didn't know how ~ maybe that child would grow inside me or maybe be adopted ~ and that we didn't know if the child would come to us as a baby or as an older child, but that we did know who the child would be.  "God said, 'Your daughter's name will be Abigail.'  Mama and Daddy are already praying for her, and you can pray for her, too."

They began negotiating with each other where she would sleep, and checking to see if they could help take care of her, if she came as a baby.  E looked up with excitement.  "Maybe she'll be from China!"  This is the daughter who began traveling to an imaginary school in China when she was 3, and who told us the other night that she'd like to be a ballerina, artist, and a missionary. 

While it's a small step in the big picture, in many ways, telling our children is a very big step.  Their faith at times dwarfs ours ~ if God says something will happen, then it does.  No second guessing or trying to rationalize the "but what if he doesn't" thoughts.  As adults, we sometimes get so focused on a certain picture of how we think God will keep His promises, that we nearly miss it when He keeps in a way that looks different than we expected.

Abigail, as of 2/2/12, the whole family is praying and joyfully awaiting your arrival.