Looking Ahead or Looking Back – by Greg Albrecht
As the covered wagon rolled and pitched
Along the prairie track, One sat looking forward
And one sat looking back. One searched the wide horizon For a bright and better day:
And, one saw the disappointing road
Til’ it too slipped away.
As the covered wagon rolled and pitched
Along the prairie track, One sat looking forward
And one sat looking back.
– poet unknown
After leaving Egypt, and after a long, almost 40-year journey in the wilderness, the nation of Israel stopped just short of the border of Canaan, their Promised Land. God told Moses to send twelve men, one from every tribe, to survey and explore before the entire nation entered into the land to possess it.
The twelve searched for forty days, and even though they returned with an example of the promised “milk and honey” – a single cluster of grapes along with pomegranates and figs so large and heavy they had to be suspended on a pole so they could be carried (Numbers 13:27-28) – they also reported the strength and power of the residents and their cities:
They gave Moses this account: “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.” – Numbers 13:27-28
But two of the spies, named Joshua and Caleb, were “sitting on the covered wagon” LOOKING FORWARD. Joshua and Caleb could not imagine any direction for the nation of Israel to take other than “forward” – in spite of real and formidable obstacles.
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” – Numbers 13:30
But the other ten, who were “sitting on the covered wagon” LOOKING BACK would have none of this talk of moving forward. Their response to Joshua and Caleb discouraged the people of Israel and caused them to grumble and moan and complain, and finally motivated the people to seriously suggest choosing a replacement for Moses who they hoped would take them back to Egypt (Numbers 14:4).
But the men who had gone up with them said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size… We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” – Numbers 13:31-33
Do you think Joshua and Caleb didn’t see the same giants and giant obstacles as the ten cynics who were LOOKING BACK? Though all twelve of the advance military “operatives” saw exactly the same things as they explored and “spied out” the land, Joshua and Caleb saw a glass half full while the ten merchants of doom and gloom described the glass as half empty. Joshua and Caleb saw the same difficulties, but they insisted on
LOOKING FORWARD.
We know that the “grasshoppers” of Israel, in spite of the giant obstacles before them and overwhelming odds against them, eventually did successfully enter the Promised Land. They LOOKED FORWARD – even though initially, some seriously considered returning to Egypt. Thousands of years later, George Bernard Shaw would say: “Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”
As this New Year of 2017 begins, perhaps Highway 2017 might be a good name for the 365-day road ahead of you and me. As this journey down Highway 2017 begins, consider this: As Christ-followers, our only direction is forward. As Christ-followers, our “covered wagons” of faith don’t have a reverse gear.
Christ-followers LOOK FORWARD, in the direction of our travel down Highway 2017. We are following Jesus – we do not sit down when he is moving forward, we follow him. When he moves a little faster, we speed up our pace so we may follow him. When he slows down, we slow down our pace. If we feel he is not going as fast as we would like, or taking us in a direction we would rather not go, as Christ-followers we don’t overtake him, for then by definition we would be following someone or something other than him!
When we face a challenge or obstacle, do we become overwhelmed because it seems the odds are stacked against us? There is no doubt the Israelites had a “giant” challenge ahead of them, but the ten spies gave a negative report because they failed to account for faith.
The Israelites were like grasshoppers in the face of a stronger, superior foe as they took possession of the Promised Land. But the ten cynics who persuaded the entire nation to LOOK BACK failed to account for all that God had done for the nation up until that time and they failed to ask why he would leave and forsake them now!
Christ-followers LOOK FORWARD and do not leave God out of the equation as they see obstacles on the horizon. As Christ-followers we know that without him we are powerless to do anything! But with him, we can do “all things” (Philippians 4:13) – and that would include giant decisions and seemingly overwhelming challenges.
As you and I look to the giants that appear before us and as we begin to journey down Highway 2017, we need not fear. Here’s how Joshua and Caleb responded to the nay-saying, “let’s go back to Egypt” folks, who were “sitting on their covered wagons.” LOOKING BACK:
“The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us…do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” – Numbers 14:7-9
Whatever we may face as we travel down Highway 2017, whether health challenges, relationship trials with friends and family, financial hardships or the grief and pain of losing loved ones:
- May God fill us with his peace, his grace and the rest we have in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who leads us down Highway 2017. The Lord is with us. We need not be afraid.
- May God inspire and encourage us to know that the only direction for Christ-followers is forward.
- As we follow Jesus down Highway 2017, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).
It is an honor and privilege to be with you as we all follow Jesus down Highway 2017, LOOKING FORWARD to the wonderful and gracious work of God in which we are allowed and asked to be involved.
Thank you – I look forward to a wonderful year in which God can use you and me to share his goodness and grace to a world hungry for the true manna, the living Bread of life that comes from heaven!
LOOKING FORWARD, FIXING OUR EYES ON HIM,
By the grace of God,
Greg Albrecht
Friend and Partner Letter from January 2017
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