Can't Somebody ELSE Do It???

Hello everybody!

I'm sure you may be wondering what I referred to when I spoke a couple of incidents I've had this past couple of weeks, but I'm not going to talk about them here.

So far, we've been tracing a line from Creation through unbelief, passing intimidation along the way and this time I want to look at having an attitude of deference (ED - not to be confused with difference, by the way!).

It can be easy at times to be intimidated by something that is asked of you, especially when what is asked of you actually seems insurmountable!

You can look at what you bring to the table, then look at the situation that you are facing and think: -

"My goodness, can I really achieve that?!"

I know we all can have our moments of self-doubt and even self-recrimination over what's to be expected of us when in actual fact we should be looking at the difference between what's asked of us and whether or not we can actually make that up.

Take, for instance, learning a new instrument.

You can have the desire to do it, but unless you actually set the time aside to begin to learn the theory behind it all, you could very well find you're floundering before you even begin.

Now, sometimes you can be naturally gifted, like me, and be able to get to grips with any instrument in little to no time at all, mastering finger positions, hand positions and any chords necessary as well as the music.

But other times it comes at a price, the price of wanting to tear you hair out the moment it feels like you'll never master that piece, or theme tune (ED - because, surely, every musician has a theme that was one of the first things they've learnt!), to actually hearing it in its recognisable form and thinking "holy crap, I did that".

Mastering the Art of Being That 'Somebody Else'

There's a little story I was once told and it goes something like this: -

This reminds me of what's going on in this week's scripture that I brought yesterday: -

And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." Numbers 14:4 (NIV)

All because they'd heard a negative report, did the Israelites throw reason and sanity out the window of consideration!

It was all too easy to forget yesterday's struggles that had brought them to where they were now; a far better place than the slavery that was found in Egypt.

But no, they threw reason out the window, decided it would be best if someone actually listened to them and not these crazies that seemed to think that a land was theirs before they had even taken possession of it!

They wanted somebody to take them back to where it had all started; Egypt!

Did they forget the plagues? The Lord's deliverance of the Israelites out of Pharoah's hands? The riches that should have been the Egyptians' but ended up IN THEIR OWN FREAKIN' HANDS?!

Forgetting What Is Behind...

That's how it can be for us at times; we can forget just what struggles we've been through to get to where we are today all because things look bleak or grim at present!

It was never always that way and chances are, as many psychologists will be able to tell you, how you think things look today is probably not the full picture of how they actually do look!

The negative reports that had come in from where they were headed, seemingly were enough to turn the Israelites desires around and cause them to want to go back to how things were (ED - honestly, it was as though they had just forgotten they'd come out of slavery!).

I've already admitted that there was a situation (ED - read crush for that one!) that I've been trying to work through that was tangling me up more than I care to admit it should have been. I had found myself, on occasion, of actually saying that I wanted to go back to how things were before this whole thing was "kicked over", in my own words.

But guess what? It's too late now and there's a pretty good chance she knows that I like her! :-D

#OOPS

Whether that's the end of the story right there, I don't know... well, alright I do but I'm not going to talk about it! :-P

But guess what?

The mercies of God being new every morning meant that every morning I was presented with the mercy and grace to get myself in a position where I'm not likely to blow everything out in the open to anybody who'll listen.

That's fine, that's just how I like it right now, because I cannot have my feelings for her getting in the way of my walk with God!

I don't care if you're reading this and you know me, or her, with all due respect; comment on how I'm running my race and you're stepping into my lane and I will not tolerate that because we all have our own races to run, so you run yours and I'll run mine, okay? :-D

So... with all that being said, if the Israelites thought that "somebody else" would have been a better leader, it's no wonder that Joshua said what he did: -

"If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land..." Numbers 14:8 (NIV)

What was he doing? I'll tell you what I think that he was doing; he was trying to rally them because he'd heard their discourse and discontent and wanted to make sure their eyes were on one simple truth: -

That which God says is that which God will do!

In other words, he was bringing them back to the present by telling them to forget what's gone before, forget what's coming up next, the point is God has said this land is ours, so let's take it!

Final Thought

So, as I bring this week's devotional to a close, I want you to start asking yourself if there's something that you've stopped believing for, or simply given up hope on something ever happening!

I know I need to restart my belief for something that I think I've shared all too much about of late!

As ever, keep watching the skies, bro's...

Peace out!