Gates of Grace

"Because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it."  

-Numbers 14:24

The ten other spies with Caleb and Joshua felt the people in the land God had sent them to possess were too powerful to overtake.  But Caleb said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."  The ten men, though, caused the people to lose heart and they spent 40 years wandering in the desert because of it.  As I read Bill Crowder's commentary in the Our Daily Bread pamphlet this morning these words struck me, "The ten spies found the Anakim a daunting challenge because they viewed them in comparison to themselves.  Joshua and Caleb, however, viewed them in comparison to God.  Many of life's circumstances--health concerns, relationship struggles, financial setbacks--can either be viewed in comparison to our own frailties or in the light of our all-powerful God."

When we are in the midst of dealing with a problem we can lose sight of God because we are so focused on the problem we can see nothing else.  I realize what I need to do now when I come up against a problem is to see God in the problem.  If I see the circumstance as from God or the person I feel is causing my problem as God using them for His purpose, it will force me to choose between humbling myself or wrestling with God over it.  The choice becomes clear--to humble myself will open the gates of grace to me.

I am grateful that there is a solution to all my problems--God.