“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.” -Numbers 14:7-8

When Moses sent spies into Canaan, they came back with a report. All of the spies saw the same things, much fruit, much beauty, many obstacles, etc. Yet they returned to give very different reports. Why? The only difference in the two groups (the 10 & the 2) was their faith in the Lord. Joshua and Caleb alone believed that the Lord would be with them, no matter the foe, no matter the odds. The other 10 merely saw with human eyes, not taking into account the power and the will of the very one who had called them there in the first place.  

It’s easy to see where I’m going. We’ve only spent a few days here of our planning trip in Barcelona (perhaps we should have planned on 40, like the Israelites did). Yet we are already faced with the clear reality that the land is full of giants. There are giants of a culture that is largely indifferent to a God they think they’ve known and rejected. There are giants of distraction, stealing all attention away from an immanent eternity. There are giants of past failures & struggles of other missionaries either giving up or floundering. There are giants of a language, customs, and all of the difficulties that come with moving a family to a foreign country. And we have a choice. Where is our faith? Do we run from the “reality” that “this is too hard”?  Or do we trust the God who called us here, the God of the universe, and face whatever comes before us with the mettle and resolve that can only come from Him?  

The choice isn’t easy, but it’s clear. This trip has been a great time of planning so far, but it’s also brought many of the challenges that we knew existed but are easy to ignore, to the forefront of our minds. And that is a good thing. Those are the very ways we get to surrender and see the hand of God move most mightily. Those are the areas that, if we don’t slink away, the Lord will shine through with his grace the most.  

Our time here already has been incredibly elucidating and validating and encouraging. Won’t you pray with us that it will continue and that our God will proceed in building the monuments and works that He desires.  

Let the land be full of giants. We are full of Him who called us, and Him who is calling this land to Himself.