The Truth of the Impossible

There are times in life when we feel like we have hit a wall, a wall that is impossible to climb and lacking even a single door to get through to the other side.  All the odds are against us, we've come to a dead end, there is no way we can get past this roadblock.  Let's face it, we are stuck with the impossible.

Deuteronomy 1:28 - Where can we go up?  Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven.  And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there."

This idea of hearts melting could be phrased, in our language, as "losing heart," or being discouraged.  And if we examine this verse, the Israelites had every reason to lose heart - they were facing an impossible situation.  Clarke's research shows that some walls then (and now) were built without gates - the only way in or out was via a basket that was either raised to or lowered from a small window high above the ground.  It is unclear if these are the walls referred to in verse 28 or not, but regardless, the walls of these cities were very tall (fortified to heaven) and very intimidating.  And then there is the small matter of the people who were greater than the Israelites in every aspect: "in number and strength and valor" (Wesley).  And if you forget about the incredibly tall walls and these highly intimidating people, there is the small matter of the Anakim which is literally translated as "long-necked" (Strong's H6062).  They were, simply put, a tribe of giants, quite possibly the same tribe Goliath belonged to (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). The Israelites were facing an impossible situation: giants, walls that were impossible to scale, people that were greater than them in every way imaginable.  The "Promised Land" seemed a distant, foggy dream and they, understandably, lost heart.

But wait...

Deuteronomy 1:30 - The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.

YOUR God, who goes before you, WILL fight on your behalf!  The amazing thing here (at least to me anyhow) is the definition of "before."  In the original Hebrew, the word for "before" can be defined as "before and behind" (Strong's).  The Lord your God who goes before you AND behind you...  We are not left vulnerable in any manner - He is before us and behind us!  And He will fight on our behalf!  Here Moses reminds the Israelites of their escape from Egypt - was that not an impossible situation?  Leaving Egypt they were outnumbered by an enemy with the advantage - but God fought for them and won!  Can He not do the same again?  And again?

It is so hard sometimes, when we have our nose pressed flat up against a wall, to see anything else, to see that God is fighting for us!  All we can see is the wall, the wall that reaches to the heavens and doesn't even have a gate!  But in the midst of that impossible situation, He is there!  He is in front of us, behind us, fighting on our behalf!  Grab that truth, that hope, and run with it!  Victory is on our side, yesterday, today, and forevermore!

I challenge you today to step back from that wall, give your nose some breathing room, and focus on the Truth.

Thank you God for fighting on my behalf.