The other day we mentioned cartoons.  My wife, Debbie, used to tell me that I’ve got a cartoon mind because of the way some things strike me as funny.  I can’t help it.  Sometimes things just remind me of a scene from my cartoon past and I have to laugh at them. 

            Another cartoon that I really liked as a kid was “Fearless Fly.”  This little fly was probably at the bottom of the totem pole of flies.  He was weaker than most flies.  But he had a special pair of glasses he would put on when things got too rough and then he would turn into Fearless Fly.  No flypaper could hold him and no flyswatter could touch him.  He wasn’t afraid of anything – at least when he had on his glasses.  As Christians we too, in a sense, have a special pair of glasses – not physical and not magical but spiritual in a way that it helps us to see our situation more clearly.

            In Numbers 14:6-9 we read of the account of Joshua and Caleb trying to encourage the people of Israel into trusting God in taking the Promised Land.  They stood against the ten other spies who said it couldn’t be done.  They had also commented as to how the inhabitants of the land would be food for them (not their flesh and bones but that defeating them would make them trust more and more in God).

            The third thing they needed was to be fearless.  Back in Numbers 13 the other ten spies had made the statement that the people of the land were so great in power and that because there were giants in the land that they felt like grasshoppers in their eyes (and added so we must have been in their eyes).  This is what I call the “Grasshopper Complex.”  They felt small and helpless against the powers of that land and so they reasoned that there was no way they could take it.

            A lot of Christians yet today suffer from the “Grasshopper Complex.”  While I don’t believe that we should use God to get what we want or mouth the Name of Jesus simply for our own comfort and personal gain, still we need to learn and know that God is on our side.

            We have also mentioned jumping out ahead of God.  We need to learn that God has a plan.  We often get impatient and in our human zeal we want to get something done.  God is a doer but He also knows when it’s the right time to do.  What we’ve got to do is learn to wait until God moves and then go fast after Him.  When we do we can move ahead in confidence that we are in the will of God and we can be fearless in what He has spoken.

            When we are moving with God then we can shake off that “Grasshopper Complex” and face any giant, depicted in the situations we encounter in our daily lives, bravely and without fear.  We can do this because we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is on our side.

            Joshua and Caleb remembered the promise of God that He would go before them in the land and fight for them and with them.  This is why they could be so confident in telling the people to not be afraid and they knew that they could take the land.

            If the truth be known I’d bet when Joshua and Caleb first saw those giants and vast armies there was some hesitation in their minds too.  But then they quickly remembered the promise of God and they were able to shake off their fear.

            We can be fearless in our daily lives if we’ll just make sure we’re moving with God and remember His promise to us.  It’s because we’ve eaten the breakfast of champions.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.