Alert, But Not Alarmed

Have you ever been nervous about a new opportunity or decision? In truth, we’ve all been there. You know the scenario. We feel like any of the four sojourners on their journey to Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz lives. “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.” 

As I write this article, I recall the song saying, “Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man; that he didn’t, didn’t already have…” Just think, brains and good thinking were all in that Tin Man. All the Tin Man did was decide to put himself in a situation that allowed the intelligence inside of him to go to the outside of him.    

My friend, speaker and author Lance Wallnau says, 

“If it scares you, it simply means you are doing something you are not yet comfortable doing or stepping into significant and unknown territory. It does not mean you will get hurt, and it doesn't mean you are not courageous. Nobody is courageous if they feel no fear.

"The courageous person is the one who does not let the fear they feel control them. Every time you move toward the thing you fear, you expand. Whenever you do what you need to do despite fear, you redefine who you are to the person whose opinion matters most - YOU.”  

The Bible has a fantastic story about courage and faith in the Book of Numbers. Moses was the leader of the Israelites. God told Moses, “I have given you the land of Canaan to live in, so go to Canaan. The Israelites left Egypt and headed for the Land of Canaan, a type of Success Zone. 

Canaan symbolizes our dreams, goals, hopes, and place of victory. It has milk and honey. It’s our Success Zone. Everyone should have some goal or dream. Abraham’s dream was to have a son, Isaac. Solomon wanted to build a temple. Joseph had a dream. He wanted to be prime minister. The Israelites had the promise of Canaan, and they went for it.   

As they approached Canaan, Moses sent twelve spies, or scouts, to review the land before Israel entered it. The upside of the land was that it had milk, honey, and great big grapes. The downside was that giants lived in the land. When the spies came back, their reports about Canaan were contradictory. Ten men had fearful reports of the land because of those giants. Two had good reports because of the land’s fruitfulness, even though there were giants. 

Author Mike Murdock summarizes the outcome of all this for us. “All twelve spies had faith. The difference was that ten of them had faith in the giants, and two had faith in God. Ten were giant-conscious, and two were God-conscious. Ten came back, moaning, “Did you see the size of those giants?” The spies with the good report, named Joshua and Caleb, came back licking their lips, saying, “Did you see the size of those grapes?” I call Joshua and Caleb the Grape Jews.  

The ten spies told Moses, “In our opinion, we are like grasshoppers. Even the giants think we are like grasshoppers.” That is what I call grasshopper vision. When you are a grasshopper, everything is big. And how you see yourself is how the giants will see you. These ten spies tried to make Israel the First Church of the Grasshopper. 

It’s not what grasshopper vision is that is important. It’s what it does to us that is important. Grasshopper vision puts our lives into a continuous “Yes…but!” loop. “Yes, the grapes are big, but the giants are bigger to us than God’s promise of giving us the land.” Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my! Here’s a hint from God for our grasshopper vision: “Don’t let what you see make you forget what I said.” Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light. 

Have you ever been in a ‘Yes…but’ loop or experienced the grasshopper complex? If you are alive, you have, and I have, too. But sometimes you must take courage and then take that risk because it is the right thing to do. That's what the Israelites did. The opportunity of "I have given you the land" overcame the fear-based obstacle "there are giants in the land." They embraced the possibility and opportunity of undeniable change.

Our problems - and how we handle them - help us grow as individuals. Those challenges in our lives force us to find solutions, solutions that sometimes mean changing ourselves or how we interact with others. Too much "smooth sailing" can leave you asleep at the rudder. See your problems and challenges as opportunities to produce something great or effect a change for the better.

Lance Wallnau says, “Every barrier you break, every fear you overcome, makes you larger on the inside. If the thing you are dancing around is not going to cause you physical harm, you need to ask yourself, who will I become if I do this? Every reward you have in life is attached to your growth, and your greatest growth comes when you risk something.”

We have three choices in life: Give up, give in, or give it your all. Here’s my advice: Just like those two spies, be alert but not alarmed. Be aware, but be courageous when the necessity or opportunity requires it. If God can make a bug's butt light up, think of what God can do for you.

So, where is your Canaan/Success Zone? Genuine faith is more than thinking something is true. Genuine faith is thinking something is true to the extent that we act on it. Acting on it takes courage. 

How will you be courageous this year? If it scares you, you should look at it twice and ask, “If I do this thing, will it make me larger and our community better?” If the answer is yes, do it. Remember, growth is stepping over what you used to trip on.