“…..but our eyes are upon You” (2 Chronicles 20:12).
To fasten our eyes on God in the midst of the distractions presented by a world ever in crisis is a must for the children of God.
To avoid sinking in the mire of sin, fear, and disappointments we should always have our eyes of faith fastened securely on the word of God and not on what the world has to say.
Why should we fasten our eyes on God? Because there are many voices out there that offer assistance from a worldly viewpoint and proffer solutions that are ways short of the chosen path of God even if the path they offer appears often logical and natural.
Why should we fasten our gaze on God? Because God’s expectations for us are beyond our own thoughts and imagination. God says he will do exceedingly abundantly above what we ask for or imagine but only in His own time and at His own term and not ours.
The Psalmist understood this secret of fixing his eyes on God when he declared that “My times are in thy hand.” (Psalm 31:15).
If we must have this attitude of fixing our gaze on God we must come to terms with the divine injunction which clearly says “The just shall live by faith”. (Romans 1:17). This means our gaze is on God and not on local or global news. Our fate is now sealed by the good news of the scripture.
But why do many fall short of fully fixing their gaze on God? Because they soon step out of faith to use their natural inclination to analyze the promise of God.
They are like the 10 Hebrew spies who though saw the abundance of the promised land but became overwhelmed by what they saw in the natural. Like Peter who saw the turbulence of the sea and began to sink, the 10 spies quickly lost their testimony in God’s promises and started to churn out negative testimony.
When we walk in the natural even in the face of opportunities we can only see fear and challenges and not divine possibilities. (Numbers 13:27-28).
However, numbered with the 12 spies was a man who kept his gaze steadfastly on the promise of God and would refuse to consult the natural to assess the supernatural. This man was Caleb.
The spirit of Caleb is the spirit of those who know they are already programmed by divine promises for great things and would therefore refuse to consult their fears but believe only in the divine power of God to give wings to His promises. (Numbers 14:24).
In our days as well, we continue to see the manifestation of the 10 spies among us by those who continually exercise logic in their comprehension of divine instructions and promises.
They are the critics who cannot accept that the things of the spirit totally control the physical. And because of their spiritual blindness, they will always criticize and frustrate those who have chosen to walk in the supernatural faith in the word of God. ( see Numbers 13:31-33).
Of such men, the scripture says: “ They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them”. (1 John 4: 5).
The sad reality is that the spirit of unbelief will always lay ambush for the spirit of faith with heavy emphasis on the negative; about what could go wrong, weighing the facts and the logical, and in so bringing the spirit of discouragement upon the whole congregation.
They must be resisted with the word of God.
We who have our eyes set on God must have the understanding that our fate and times are sealed up in the truth of God. We should therefore continually use the word of God to purge our minds from the influences of such worldly-minded men if we are to stay in vibrant faith.
Readings
Numbers 14: 20-38
