Don't Be a Grasshopper

Numbers 13:33
21st Century King James Version

And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, who come of the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

The setting of this scripture is in the Old Testament story of some men of Israel taking a peek into Canaan to see what the lay of the land was.  The majority of them had this reaction to what appeared to be giants.

What strikes me here, is that the sentiment sounds so familiar.  As humans we tend to project our insecurities and assume what we think of ourselves is what others think of us.  Clearly, these men of Israel had this problem.  They saw themselves as small as grasshoppers compared to the sons of Anak, so they assumed that's what they looked like to these giant people.  

I see a couple of issues; they projected their own insecurities, and they forgot who they were. 

There are various reasons why one might have an insecurity or two (or more), we all have broken places, whether it be from traumas, life circumstances, or even our own actions or sins.  Regardless of the reasons, we can use these things against ourselves, feel bad about ourselves, and then try to hand them to other people to let them use them against us (aka projection).

Who were these men, anyway?  Were they not men of Israel?  God's chosen people?  Had God not already rescued them?  Had God not already set them free?  Had God not already provided everything they needed?  They let their insecurities blind them to who they actually were!

So, for you and me today - do we know who we are?  Are we letting our feelings of inadequacy and insecurity come between us and the God of our salvation?  Are we worried about how we might look to giants in our own lives?  

I propose we take a minute to remember who we are, who He is, and what He has already done.  The Children of Israel took a little more than a minute to figure this out, but Jesus says we can come to Him, we can find peace and rest in Him.  He does not see us as we see ourselves.  He sees chosen, value, worth, son, daughter - can you let Him project onto you?