God Already Knew The Obstacles You Fear

God can show us the promised land and we still hesitate on the edge. That tension is the heartbeat of this message: we want the promise, but we keep replaying the obstacles. We’re sitting in Numbers 13, where the spies see a land overflowing with fruit and still come back overwhelmed by giants. It’s a painfully familiar picture of what happens when fear becomes the loudest voice in our head.

We talk about what a “bad report” looks like today: focusing on everything that could go wrong, assuming God didn’t account for the bumps and bruises, and shrinking our calling down to the size of our insecurity. The line that stings the most is the one that exposes identity: “we saw ourselves as grasshoppers.” When self-doubt takes over, we start imagining other people’s opinions, comparing ourselves to someone who looks more qualified, and quietly retreating to what feels safe. That’s how we miss purpose, delay spiritual growth, and settle for less than God’s best.

Then we pivot to what builds courage. Sometimes the crowd is loud, but faith still speaks. We’re reminded that God is a promise keeper, that He equips what He calls, and that we’re not walking alone. If you’re looking for Christian encouragement, faith for hard seasons, overcoming fear, and a mindset shift rooted in Scripture, this is your sign to stop staring at the giants and start moving toward your Canaan.

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Transcript

Standing At The Edge Of Promise

SPEAKER_00 0:44

God showed you the promised land and you're still standing on the edge. What's your reason? What's stopping you from moving into that which God has called you to do? What's holding you back? Now the Lord has had me in the book of Numbers. Well I'm reading through and Numbers 13 just has been replaying in my mind for a couple days. And it's the fact that when the Lord instructed Moses to send spies out to go and look at the land of Canaan, the word of God states that it's the Lord who has promised to give them that land. And so when he sent the spies out for them to look, we know that the word of God declares that they gave a bad report. They gave a bad report. Their focus was on the giants. They saw themselves as grasshoppers. And then they believe that others thought of them as well. So there are a couple of things that I took from this and you know thinking about us. Or maybe let me just talk about just focusing on me. God has given us promises that we've not yet walked into. Because we are thinking that God is somehow unaware that we would be faced with challenges on the journey. That somehow God would be unaware that there would be giants in the land. That somehow God would be unaware that there would be obstacles in our pathway. And these obstacles are the things that we hold on to instead of remembering that God is a promise keeper, that he is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent. For what he says he will do, he will do. So can you imagine getting a promise saying, You are going to possess the land, but I want you to send the spies out. And Moses was clear about what the instructions were. He said, You were to look if the cities were fortified, look all the type of people, etc. And you can find that in Numbers chapter 13. So they had clear instructions about what to look for. He also told them that they were to get grapes because there was grape season. He said collect grapes. And when they went, the Bible records that they got one cluster of grape, and they actually had to carry it on a pole. Two men had to carry the grape on a pole. And that didn't seem, I guess, surprising to them because it spoke to how fruitful the land is. And friends, that's how we can be. God has given us the promise. We're looking at the land, and that the land is fruitful. But all we can think of is someone else is doing it, someone else has done it before. All these obstacles I will have to go through, all these hoops. This ministry is not easy. This new task is given me, it's not easy. Someone has done it before. People have been hurt by this before, and I'm not sure that I can do it. While all the time we forget that God has spoken. That God has spoken. Now let's look internally. Because they said they saw themselves as grasshoppers. Like reading it, it's not like I've never read it before and I know you are, but somehow it it just jumped out at me. And I think it spoke to me because I was in a limited mindset about something that the Lord wanted me to do. And guys, can I tell you? All I could focus on is what wasn't working, all the obstacles. And I started seeing myself as grasshoppers. So small, so insignificant. I could not see myself as a giant. But not only that, I started to think about what others would say, how would they respond, what would they do? God is sending you to do here and look at all the things that you have to do here, and you start seeing all the obstacles in the form of others' opinions and thoughts of us. When we give way to that, clearly we can't step into the promise that God has for us. Clearly, we can't fulfill what He has called for us because we were excited at some point. Yes, God has given me this. He's told me that He wants me to go here, He wants me to do this, He wants me to take on this new ministry, this new position, this new family, this new thing, and we were excited about it. But when we started on the journey, we did not expect the bumps, we did not expect the bruises, we did not expect the falls, we did not expect all of that. And so what do we do? We start becoming disheartened, we start seeing ourselves as insignificant. No, this thing that God has called me to do, it's too big for me. I cannot manage it. Why didn't he tell someone else? And doesn't he see that someone else over there is doing it? Doesn't he see that this other person in the job is functioning better than I? Why didn't he do that? All the time missing the blessing that God has given us, all the time, missing the sovereignty of God and the fact that he knows all things best, and the fact that he chose you and he chose me for his plans and his purposes. He knew our shortfalls, he knew our shortcomings, he knew my friend, all the obstacles that we would face, and yet still he made a promise to you and I. And it also told me too that we had to be careful of who we have around them. Twelve persons went out and ten came back with the same report, and two did not think as the others, and the ten who had the wrong thought, they were ready to stone the other two because of their descent. They said we can possess the land because they knew that God has already given it to them. And sometimes there are two persons that are saying to you, you can do this, proceed. But we are listening to the crowd, we are listening to the numbers, and so instead of proceeding, we with treat. We said, No, we can't go. We've seen small successes, and yet still we don't think that there is more of that to come. We settle for less than what God has called us, we retreat to where He has He's taken us from. We retreat to where He is taking us from instead of proceeding. So again, what's the canon that God has promised you? What's the canon? What has He said to you? And what will you do with what God has said to you? Like I feel like I'm speaking to myself today. Can I tell you? I've been struggling to put this episode out and I feel like it wasn't just for me, but was to share it with someone else. Just to remind you that God has a good plan for you. God has a good plan for you. That which He has designed for you, that which He has purposed for you, it will be fulfilled if you will just get out of your head, get out of the head of others, remove the limited thinking, the limited mindset thinking, and focus on I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That he says, I am with you, be bold and courageous as the Lord is with you. So we're not walking through this journey alone. Almighty God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, is walking alongside this journey with you, and he's saying, Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be discouraged, for I am with you. Yes, you're seeing all of these so-called giants, but I know that they're there, and I'm going to give you high hind streets so that you can walk upon the high places, you can walk over these giants, for I the Lord, thy God, with you. So today, today, be reminded that his promises are yes and amen. He's equipped you for what he has called you for, and it doesn't matter what the obstacles look like, give them to Almighty God. He will take care of you, he'll take you through because it's positioned for purpose wherever you are, God has a plan for you. But you'll have to move. You can't you can't possess the promise if you don't move. You can't possess the promise if you're still in your head. So, Father, help us. Help us to see see ourselves the way you see us, Almighty God. Help us to see, Almighty God, that we are strong in you, that we're giants in you. We're not God's helpers to be walked upon, Almighty God. So strengthen my friend today. Be with her, Lord God. Help her to revisit that promise, Lord God. Give her strategies, Almighty God, to accomplish that which you have called her to do. Whether it's a ministry, whether it's in the marketplace, Almighty God, whether it is in her family, whatever it is, strengthen her. Lord, I pray. When your name I pray with thanksgiving, amen and amen. If this has been a blessing to you, I hope that you'll share it with someone who needs to be reminded that God has a promise. He has a canan for you, and he's gonna take you through if you only trust him. Blessings.