We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”
Numbers 13:33 NLT
Fear ruins everything, doesn't it? I'm not talking about a healthy fear of God. I'm talking about fear that paralyzes us. Fear that is rooted in faithlessness and distrust in God.
Yes, we are very hard on the Israelites because we know how the story goes, make no mistake, we do the same thing. So, scouts are going to survey the land that "God is giving to them." That quote is very clear, God is going to give the people this land because He has promised it to them. It's theirs. However...
Ten spies come back with the above report. Yes, the land is great, bountiful, a true promised land. But the people there... fear is all they can see, and because of this, their view and thoughts are distorted.
They're so afraid that they believe that those they see see them a certain way. Do they really know that those who lived in the land thought of them as grasshoppers? Yet, fear has convinced them that this is the case. In fact, it says we "felt" like grasshoppers next to them.
Let's read the King James Version:
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. - Numbers 13:33 KJV
"In our own sight as grasshoppers." Fear will have you feel small when you're not. Fear ruins everything!
Don't let fear control your feelings. Don't let fear convince you of someone's opinion of you, especially since the only opinion that matters is God's. And certainly, don't let fear keep you out of the promised land.