POINT OF VIEW  

Scripture for the day: Numbers 13:30-31 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”  But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
Thought for the day: With such diametrically opposed views being tossed at them, is it any wonder the people of Israel were confused and frightened?  No wonder they took the direction they did; ten of the twelve spies told the same story, the people of the land were giants and there was no way they could be defeated by the rag-tag bunch of warriors the children of Israel could muster against them.  Only two, Joshua and Caleb, saw the opportunity as a positive thing and were ready to go, based not on what they saw but on what the Lord had promised.  Isn’t it interesting how their whole demeanor was governed by their point of view?  Who was right in the report they gave?  Why, they both were, of course.  The ten were right when they gave a factual report of the size of the people, how difficult the land would be to conquer, the degree of fortification of the cities; everything.  Joshua and Caleb were right when they told of a land of great value, flowing with milk and honey, ripe for the taking.  What was the difference in their reports?  Was it not the view they held of God which made the difference?  For the ten, the glass was half empty; for the two it was half full.
 I once read of a man who investigated how people felt about their jobs.  He wanted to know what motivated them and how that affected their job performance, health and over-all outlook on life.  For his subjects, he chose to visit a rock quarry where the men labored intensively every day to cut huge blocks of granite out of the ground and transport them to a building site in the city.  Approaching the first laborer the man asked, “What are you doing?”  The young man paused with his hammer in his hand and, with sweat streaming down his rock-dust covered face, said in an irritated voice, “I’m making $8.00 an hour cutting these stupid blocks from this stupid quarry!  Any more stupid questions?”  The investigator recoiled a bit at the man’s disgruntled response and moved on.
 The next man he came to was doing the very same job as the first so he stopped to ask the same question: “What are you doing?”  Again the rock hammer paused in mid-air as the man looked away from his work and at the well-dressed gentleman who’d interrupted his work.  Lowering the hammer, the man pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped the rock dust from his sweat-covered brow and took a drink of water from a thermos he carried with him.  “Well sir,” he answered, “I’m providing a living for my family.  It’s not easy but it puts clothes on our backs and food on the table, so I guess I can live with it.”  With that he turned back to his work and swung the hammer against the hard granite wall for the 1,000th time that day.
 Approaching a third man who was doing the same job, the investigator was surprised to hear him whistling as he worked.  The man stopped and asked the same question, “What are you doing?”  The man turned from his work and smiled at the investigator and said, “Why sir, don’t you know what is to be done with the blocks we’re hewing out of this granite ledge?  They are being transported into the city where they will be used to construct a great cathedral.  What am I doing?  I’m building a cathedral sir.”  And with that he turned back to his work, continuing to swing the hammer – and whistle through the smile on his face.
 Point of view is everything when we look at the challenges of life.  We can adopt the attitude of the first man, concentrating on whether or not we’re making the kind of money we’d like and hating what we are called upon to do.  We can adopt the attitude of the second man and resign ourselves to the drudgery of making a living for ourselves and our families.  Or we can adopt the attitude of the third man, finding out how our contribution fits into God’s plan and rejoicing at the prospect of being able to contribute to its success.
 The ten spies who gave a bad report saw only through their own eyes; they could not see past the problem to the solution, nor could they see how they might fit in with God’s plans.  The two saw through the eyes of faith and were convinced that nothing could stand in the way of their God.  What kind of glasses do you wear?
Now go take on your world.  -  Bill