CHARLO, New Brunswick, December 8, 2023 – We have two sets of eyes as believers: the eyes of the world and the eyes of faith.

God wants us to look through the eyes of faith, but the devil wants us to look through the eyes of the world, because if we look through the eyes of the world, faith will be impossible. The world is ruled by fear, so the eyes of the world are the eyes of “I can’t do it” and “be afraid, be very afraid”.

But the eyes of faith are the eyes of “I can do all things through God who strengthens me”.

One year after the exodus, Moses sent twelve leaders, one from each of the houses of the children of Israel, to spy on the land of Canaan, the land stretching from the river to the sea that God had promised he’d give them when it was time. When the twelve men returned, ten were full of fear over what they’d seen, describing the impenetrable fortresses and the mighty warriors guarding them. The other two men – Joshua and Caleb – gave entirely different reports, claiming they were well able to break through the strongholds and overcome the inhabitants because God had promised them the land and God was with them. We can see from their reports how the ten fearful men were looking through the eyes of the world, while Joshua and Caleb were looking through the eyes of faith.

As believers, we cannot afford not to look through the eyes of faith. We can still look through the eyes of the world – we’ll have that capacity for the rest of our time on Earth – but we need to steadily focus through the eyes of faith or we’ll lose our way and maybe even (God forbid) lose our grace. The ten men who chose to view the promised land through the eyes of the world lost the promised land. They perished in the wilderness. Only Joshua and Caleb made it all the way.

David, as a young shepherd, spent a lot of time watching over his father’s sheep. I’m wagering that he spent a lot of that time shooting objects with his slingshot (he might even have used it to keep his sheep in line), and the rest of the hours he wiled away teaching himself how to play the harp and write songs. I’m wagering the sheep responded to his music, too, and that he used it to calm them. But amidst all the sling-shotting and music-making, David was doing something even more important – he was deepening his relationship with God. He was building his faith. And it was his strong faith that then enabled David to take the skills he’d learned during his shepherding years and use them to the glory of God, with God’s timing and guidance.

God’s timing and guidance are critical to the application of our learned skills. We can have faith great enough to move mountains, but if we try to move them at our whim, without God’s timing and guidance, we will fail. After Moses had upbraided the ten fearful men for their lack of faith, they resolved the next day to go to battle against the Canaanites. Moses pleaded with them not to go, but they insisted that because God had promised them the land, God would bring them victory.

But it wasn’t time for the children of Israel to fight the Canaanites, so God wasn’t with them and they lost the battle. Not only did they lose the battle but their defeat inspired fear in the rest of the children of Israel, who then resolved they should return to Egypt and put themselves back under the bondage of Pharoah. This is the fruit of misapplied faith, and we see it today in the many Christians who are falling into disbelief because their presumed miracles and prophecies didn’t come true, or their prayers weren’t answered in the way they wanted them to be answered.

Faith involves not just believing but waiting on God’s timing and guidance. God is not a genie in a bottle that you can command at whim; he tells his prophets the when, the where, and the what, and then it comes to pass with his blessings. Jesus said he always did that which pleased the Father; he didn’t say the Father always did that which pleased him.

We can live in fear, like the world does, or we can live in faith, like believers do. The choice is ours. But if we choose to view life through the eyes of faith, we also need to rely 100% on God, and in relying on God, we need to do everything according to his timing and with his guidance. We don’t direct God, he directs us. Moses well knew this, as did Joshua and Caleb, as did David and all believers throughout the ages.

Your faith might indeed be great enough to move mountains, but the only way that mountain’s going to move is when God says it’s time and then shows you how.