Your Perspective Shapes the Way You See Reality

Israel had spent four hundred-plus years as slaves in Egypt, and then they called out to God, asking him to deliver them. God tells them he will free them from slavery and lead them to the land that was promised to them.

Through Moses, God sends plagues on Egypt, but spares the Israelites living in Egypt from being ravaged by them. Finally, Pharaoh is compelled to let the Israelites go.

The Israelites begin their journey out of Egypt toward the promised land, but Pharaoh has a change of heart and sends his armies to pursue them. They are hot on the Israelites’ heels, and the Red Sea is looming right in front of the people of Israel. They are trapped. But the people watch as God splits the Red Sea, creating a highway for them to walk through. When the Egyptian army comes after them, the sea collapses on them. As the Israelites continue their journey through the wilderness, God provides for them in undeniably miraculous ways.

The Israelites have had front-row seats to see the incredible power and provision of God. Finally they are standing at the precipice of the promised land, the land God promised to them hundreds of years earlier through Abraham. Generation after generation had anticipated this moment, and it has now arrived. They are looking at it right in front of them.

The biblical account reads, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders’” (Numbers 13:1–2).

Remember, this is the promised land. God tells Moses to send some men into the promised land—Not the “I’m contemplating it land” or the “We’ll see land” or the “I’ll consider it land” or the “We’ll talk about it later land.”

It’s the promised land. God tells Moses that it’s the land “which I am giving to the Israelites.” Like, it’s already been decided. Send some men to explore the land I’ve already determined to give to you.

God did not tell them, “I want you to go into the land and see what you think, decide if you feel like I’m capable of giving it to you. I want you to come back and do a SWOT analysis and a risk assessment. Oh, and you should also make a pie chart indicating the likelihood of success. I’ll take all of your information to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We’ll talk it over, and then we’ll let you know what we decide.”

No.

The spies are sent to investigate, but the land had already been promised. The twelve spies are chosen, and Moses gives them their assignment, ending with these words: “Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land” (Numbers 13:20). Moses tells the spies what to look for when they go in the land—fruit. Fruit is what is good. Fruit is evidence of what God has said.

The twelve spies walk off, and everyone is waving—and then everyone waits . . . for forty days. I don’t know, but I would have assumed this reconnaissance mission would take maybe four days. They are gone for forty.

The twelve men finally return with their report, and their report provides a great example of perspective. Remember, it’s not what we see; it’s what we think we see. Our perspective is all-important; it shapes our reality.

“They gave Moses this account: ‘We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there’” (Numbers 13:27–28).

Their report essentially goes like this: “Just like God said, the land is awesome. And just like you asked, we brought fruit back. But . . .”

But is always a dangerous word when it comes to our perspective. Too often, it’s, “I know what God said, and I know what he promised, but . . .” and that’s exactly what happens here.

“But the people are too powerful. The cities are too fortified. We saw descendants of Anak—they’re giants. They’re way too big.”

Ten spies give a negative report. Two spies, Caleb and Joshua, have a different perspective. They all saw the same things, but they saw it differently.

“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it’” (Numbers 13:30).

They see the same things, but their reality is determined by their perspective. Ten come back reporting, “We can’t. It’s too much.” Two return saying, “It’s ours. Let’s go!”

The ten aren’t sure their negative view is going to win the day, so they give what might be the first recorded telling of #fakenews: “But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’ And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them’” (Numbers 13:31–33).

Here we have another problem of perspective. If a grasshopper stands about one inch tall and the average Israelite man was five foot eight, that’s a ratio of 68 to 1. That means the men living in the promised land would have been about four thousand feet tall.

When we fail to take our thoughts captive, they shape our perspectives in ways that exaggerate the struggles we are facing and underestimate the power of God.

How do the people of Israel respond to the negativity of the ten spies? Do they fight back?

Nope.

“That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ And they said to each other, ‘We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt’” (Numbers 14:1–4).

Negativity is like an infection that spreads. Pessimism becomes its own pandemic. Everyone is complaining and critical and ready to book their return trip to slavery in Egypt.

But the other two spies, Joshua and Caleb, try to shift their perspective: “Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, ‘The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 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 devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them’” (Numbers 14:6–9).

Do you see how they looked at the same things but saw it completely differently? Ten come back: “We’re like grasshoppers who will get stepped on!” Two return: “They are helpless prey to us. We’ll step on them.”

Why do the two spies have so much confidence? Because “the Lord is with us!”

Our perspective shapes our lives, and our perspective is shaped by what we think about. What do you think Joshua and Caleb had been thinking about? It seems obvious—the miraculous way God had led them out of slavery . . . and the plagues he had sent upon the Egyptians . . . and the way he parted the Red Sea . . . and the manna he provided for them in the wilderness . . . and the water he made to gush out of the rock when they were thirsty. If God could do all that, how could he not do all this?

What do you think the other ten spies had been thinking about? Obviously not all that.

The ten see only problems; the two see only the presence and power of a God who had made promises he will always keep.

By Kyle Idleman, adapted from Every Thought Captive: Calm the Mental Chaos That Keeps You Stuck, Drains Your Hope, and Holds You Back.