Grasshoppers and Giants

“…We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Numbers 13:33b

Who remembers the great and powerful Wizard of Oz from the American classic movie, of the same name, filmed in 1939? The Wizard terrified me until his true identity was unexpectedly revealed. Toto, Dorothy’s rambunctious little black dog, grabbed a curtain by his teeth, and exposed the giant Wizard as a timid man controlling a machine. He had appeared to transcend all, but in reality was small and powerless.

I used to have my own intimidating giant—a huge red-tipped photinia at my home in East Texas. A red-tipped photinia is a large shrub (10-15′ tall) with dark evergreen leaves. It gets its name from its new growth, which starts as a beautiful red before turning green. For security reasons I wanted to trim it to a manageable size. How would I do that? I set a step ladder up next to the formidable bush, but it was no match.

I prayed.

Back on the ground, I parted some branches and stepped up to the stout trunk. I gazed upward into an array of slim branches. The branches were long, but I could easily prune them with my hedge shears. The bush wasn’t the towering giant that I believed it to be! God had opened my eyes to see it as it was.

In the book of Numbers, we’re told that God allowed Caleb and Joshua to see the tall men of the Promised Land through His eyes, unlike the other ten spies. Caleb and Joshua envisioned God shaping the outcome. They recalled God’s past actions and trusted God’s promises of victory. They weren’t fearful and didn’t feel like grasshoppers, in spite of the alarming giants.

Do you feel small like a grasshopper in the face of frightening circumstances or intimidating people? Like the ten spies, we often fail to encounter God or we forget His promises to us. Instead, let’s step forward in confidence through enlightened eyes.

LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success (Psalm 118:25)!
Karen Sims