Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:28 — 19.9MB)
If you’re thinking I’ve made up this grasshopper sickness, let me remind you of the time when God’s people were afflicted with it. You’ll find it recorded in Numbers 13. Here are some selected verses from that chapter:
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.’ So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites (13:1-3).
“When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, ‘See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.’ (13:17-20).
“So they went up and explored the land…At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land… They gave Moses this account: ‘We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large… (13:21,25, 27-28).
“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’ But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’ And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.'” (13:30-33).
GRASSHOPPERS! That’s how they saw themselves—grasshoppers! And as a result, they wanted to give up. They lost all hope of ever entering the promised land. In the 14th chapter the story continues:
“All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?'” (Numbers 14:2-3).
Oh, this grasshopper disease is really serious. Let me point out the symptoms of this sickness so you can check up and see if you’ve caught it lately:
First, it wipes out your memory.
Think of those children of Israel, poised on the borders of Canaan. How had they gotten there? God had miraculously led them out of Egypt. I mean, it’s not every day you see the waters of the Red Sea parted and walk across on dry land. Miracle after miracle after miracle had happened right in front of their eyes. But they didn’t even remember.
So, when you catch the grasshopper disease, you remember what you should forget and forget what you should remember.
Does that ever happen to you? How often have you found yourself facing what looked like an impossibility, and all you could talk about, all you could focus on was how difficult it was going to be? If that’s where you are today, you may indeed be coming down with this disease.
Second, you grumble and complain.
If you know anything about the children of Israel, you know that griping and complaining was a common problem for them. And sure enough, as soon as they heard the bad report from the ten faithless spies, they complained and grumbled against Moses and Aaron. Notice that their complaining spirit quickly spread to everyone around them. This disease is very contagious!
When was the last time you grumbled or complained? Paul wrote to the Philippians “Do everything without complaining or arguing…” (2:14). Everything! When you complain, you not only bring yourself down, but everyone around you as well!
Third, you want to quit.
This grasshopper disease makes you want to retreat; to forget your calling and just give up. These people were ready to go back into bondage and be slaves in Egypt again. They forgot how terrible things were in Egypt, and they were ready to give up this land of milk and honey and return to slavery.
Oh, there have been many times I’ve wanted to quit—times when I no longer had the courage or boldness I needed to do what God wanted me to do. Times when I wanted to quit because it just looked like the easy way out, maybe the only way out. David wanted to quit. At one tough juncture of his life he said, “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” (Psalm 55:4-6).
I understand exactly how David felt, don’t you? Have you been wanting to quit lately? Have you lost your courage? Could it be you’re coming down with this grasshopper disease?
In John 6 we see where the disciples caught the grasshopper disease. A great crowd had followed Jesus to a far-off spot, and Jesus asked his disciple, Philip: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.” (John 6:5b-6). Here was an impossibility. Five thousand people to be fed, and no money.
Jesus knew the impossibility; he also knew the solution. But before solving the problem, he tested Philip. Look at Philip’s answer. He focuses on the money: “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (John 6:7). Evidently Philip was good at math. Without a calculator he quickly figured that the sum of money required was ridiculously high. To paraphrase his answer, “Lord, are you kidding, it’d take eight months of an average man’s salary just to buy enough bread to give everyone a tiny piece. We’re talking lots of money, Lord. Are you serious about feeding this crowd?”
Notice how Andrew answers. “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:9). Andrew looks for another solution but finds it’s equally impossible.
You see, when you come down with the grasshopper disease, you look for answers in all the wrong places: In your bank account, in your relationships, in your own cleverness and ideas. And inevitably, you become discouraged and ready to give up, just like the disciples did in this situation. Just like the children of Israel did in the desert.
And you’ll notice these disciples were also afflicted with memory loss. They’d been traveling with Jesus for weeks and months, and daily he was performing miracles in front of their eyes. And yet, when faced with an impossible situation, they didn’t once say, “But Lord, I’m sure you can come up with an answer, because you healed that guy at the pool the other day, and you turned water into wine, I remember that. And you’ve been healing all sorts of people, and your word is true. No problem for you, Lord. We don’t have any solutions, but surely you do.”
No, they didn’t remember what Jesus had done, they lost sight of who he was. And they were drowning in their own impossibilities because they had the grasshopper disease.
Let me tell you about another person who faced an impossible situation: Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. You’ll find his predicament described in 2 Chronicles 20:1-4:
After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Seas. It is already in En Gedi.” Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
Like the children of Israel and the disciples, Jehoshaphat is faced with a grave dilemma. His entire army, his entire country could be wiped out by this enemy army. And he is alarmed, who wouldn’t be. But notice what Jehoshaphat does in his alarmed condition: He resolves to inquire of the Lord.
He could have inquired of his political advisers. They would have undoubtedly told him to try to make a peace treaty with this vast enemy and save their necks, even if it meant giving up the land. He could have inquired of his military advisers, who would have told him to retreat and get out as fast as possible.
But Jehoshaphat didn’t inquire of people or counselors or advisers. He inquired of the Lord. Where have you been running for answers as you face your impossible situation? Is the Lord the first person you turn to? Amazing how often we do everything else except inquire of the Lord.
If you’ve caught the grasshopper disease, this is step one to finding a cure: Inquire of the Lord. Notice that Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord—he set his will to do it. I can imagine that his feelings were taking him in different directions. I can believe that he wanted to start running fast and take some kind of action immediately. But he knew that he would only find answers by inquiring of the Lord, so whether he felt like it or not, he resolved to do that.
Many times we run with our emotions when we’re up against our impossibilities. And our emotions take us to hasty action, to running away, to seeking advice from the wrong people, etc. If we would first inquire of the Lord, sit down with his Word and ask for direction, spend time in prayer to listen to his voice, we would find the answers we need.
Maybe that’s where you are today—you need to inquire of the Lord. Have you done that yet? Make sure it’s step one; then you’ll know what other steps you should take.
Well, when Jehoshaphat called the people together to inquire of the Lord, he left us an incredible example of how to get rid of the grasshopper disease. And unfortunately we’ll have to wait until the next episode. But I want to strongly encourage you to read on, because I have found this to be one of the best lessons in the whole Bible. In fact, this chapter of 2 Chronicles is definitely one of my favorites. I’m going to give you seven R’s that come from Jehoshaphat’s example that I believe will help you time and time again to defeat discouragement and give you hope.