Reward and Opposition

Steven Furtick post:  Grapes and Giants

“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 can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. All the people we saw there are of great size.
Numbers 13:27-28

The Israelites had finally reached the Promised Land. But it wasn’t what everybody thought it would be.

There was a reward. But there was also opposition.

There were grapes. But there were also giants.

So they came to the conclusion that this couldn’t be what God was calling them to do. This couldn’t be God’s will, because God’s will had to be easier than this.

We tend to think the same way. Many people consider opposition a sign that they must not be in the will of God. We think the Promised Land is where the blessings are going to be. Being in God’s will is where life is supposed to be easy. Therefore, battle, opposition, struggle, and enemies must be a sign that we aren’t in the right place.

But apparently a sign of God’s will is not the ease with which you obtain it. Apparently the very sign of the Promised Land is giants. Conflict. Opposition.

In other words, being in God’s will doesn’t guarantee a tension-free job. Or a conflict-free marriage. Or a trouble-free life. In fact, the very presence of tension, conflict, and trouble could be a sign that you’re right where you need to be.

You might be thinking that you’re not in God’s will right now. You’re going through all this fighting and it shouldn’t be like this. It must mean you’re in the wrong place.

Not necessarily. It might mean that you’re in exactly the right place. I doubt Satan is going to put up a fight to keep you from doing what you shouldn’t be doing. What if you changed your perspective and saw what you’re facing as a sign that you’re exactly where God wants you to be, because giants live in the Promised Land?

That doesn’t make it easy. But remember:
There was opposition for the Israelites. But there was also a reward.
There were giants. But there were also grapes.

A sign of God’s will isn’t just the opposition you’re facing. It’s also the fact that with God you can actually overcome it. And the reward that you will get for sticking it out will far outshine any opposition that you’re facing.