Don't Lose Sight

Mark Batterson's post: The Valley of Eshcol

In my daily Bible I came across this passage in Numbers 32: "They went as far as the valley of Eshcol." I think that is where many of our dreams die. It is the place where we lose heart or lose sight or lose focus. That is as far as the spies got. The promise was about to be fulfilled. It was at their fingertips, but instead they let it slip through their hands.

The valley of Eshcol is the place where we stop trying or stop believing. It is the place where we turn back. But here is what God put in my heart: turning your back on a God-given dream is turning your back on God himself. Obviously, the operative phrase is "God-given." You need to keep going after that dream. Why? Not so you can accomplishment something. Please! You need to go after that God-sized dream because it is the thing that will keep you on your knees living in raw dependence upon God. That is how we grow. And that is how we glorify God.

For those in the valley of Eshcol, here's one verse and one story.

Psalm 37 says, "Wait passionately for God." Most of us wait passively. The Psalmist says wait passionately. How do we wait passionately? One word: prayer.

I just got an email from Randall Brown, founder of Fusion Warehouse in Anderson, SC. I've never met him, but his story inspired me. He read the story in In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day about how we prayed for eight years for Ebenezers Coffeehouse and God miraculously gave us that piece of property. His story is so similar. Randall started doing prayer walks around an empty 70,000 sf Wal-Mart building. He prayed around it every day for three-and-a-half years until one day the Lord said today is the day to call them. They had 47 cents in their bank account. Today that building is home to an incredibly creative student center that is impacting its community!

I hope that encourages those who are in the valley of Eshcol. You may only have 47 cents in your account. You may have been praying for something for three-and-a-half years.

Don't lose heart. Don't lose sight. Don't lose focus.