Do You Have a Grasshopper Mentality?

Please don’t be offended by the title of this post.

Honestly, it’s just a rhetorical question, but also something I think people have trouble with from time to time.

We’ve probably all heard professional athletes and Olympians share stories of times they couldn’t perform to their ability, times they just couldn’t reach the goal no matter how hard they tried. Usually the problem is traced back to lack of belief. Somehow they inched or fell into a pattern of doubt which undercut everything they attempted.

While stepping into the unknown can be frightening, it’s also exhilarating. While it’s not without it’s dangers and setbacks, it’s also loaded with thrills. Here’s the best part. If God is behind it, we can’t lose.

If we keep our eyes on God, even mountainous problems become molehills. If we fix our gaze on Jesus, those stormy waves lose their power.

But the opposite is also true. If we move our focus to fears, doubts, storms, and problems, we get defeated. We lose courage. We sink.

But don’t take my word for it. Look at this story from God’s Word.

God’s Direction and Moses’ Questions

Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel”….When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” ~Numbers 13:1-2; 17-20 (NASB)

The Pros and Cons

When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.” ~Numbers 13:25-29 (NASB)

A Big Thinker With Big Faith

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” ~Numbers 13:30 (NASB)

‘Nuff said, right? Notice that he didn’t list the pros and cons. He simply stated his belief that they could overcome and take possession.

Not So Fast…Grasshopper Alert

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” ~Numbers 13:31-33 (NASB)

These guys had a focus issue. They’d forgotten one tiny detail that Caleb remembered. One tiny detail that came from the very beginning of the story. One tiny detail that made all the difference.

Here it is again in case you missed it the first time: Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel…” ~Deuteronomy 13:1-2 (NASB)

God wasn’t dangling a carrot in front of their eyes that they couldn’t have. He told them He was giving them the land. The whole spy trip was a test of their faith. God had miraculously delivered them from Egypt, protected them from desert heat with a cloud by day and from dark and cold with a fire by night, provided water from a rock, and fed them with a massive amount of quail and manna. With a God like that, what are a few measly giants?

Sadly, we all know the consequences of their grasshopper mentality. The people threw a big pity party where they once more grumbled and complained. Then God delivered the bad news.

Except for Caleb and Joshua–the two without grasshopper mentality–none of them would see the Promised Land.

Lessons For Us

First off, our God is able. He is faithful to keep His promises. Our faith is of greater value than gold and silver, and He tests it to see if we’re going to focus on the giants or on Him.

Secondly, let’s not be among the naysayers in the crowd. Don’t be the one who says: “It can’t be done. We don’t have the strength, resources, money, or whatever…” So what? We have God, who has unlimited strength, resources, money, and whatever!

And last of all, let’s lose the grasshopper mentality. If God said it, that settles it. No need for fears, doubts, or unbelief.

“We live by faith, not by sight.” ~2 Corinthians 5:7

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” ~Hebrews 11:6

“According to your faith, be it unto you.” ~Jesus, the Son of the Great I AM (Matthew 9:29)