I was training once on a large forklift that we used to move bundles of wood that ranged from 10 feet wide to 60 feet wide. I can tell you that moving anything that was 10 to 40 feet wide wasn’t really nerve racking. When you grabbed 48 footers and above though. That was a different story altogether. When you picked up the bundles of wood and leaned them back they would bow like they were going to fall. Then you had to lift the bundles above the cab of the lift to the point that you could only see the ends. This was so you could clear any obstacles that you may come across on your way to stage them. I remember the guy training me saying, “Run the bundle up and forget it’s there, just drive.” That was not comforting at all. He could tell that I was nervous and he told me something that has stuck with me for years. He said, “Anything you’re afraid to do, the longer you put it off, the bigger monster it becomes.”
Have you ever had a problem that you just couldn’t stop thinking about? The more you thought about it the bigger it seemed to get. It didn’t actually get bigger, it just seemed that way. This is because you’ve magnified it. Magnifying anything doesn’t change its actual size, but how you perceive it.
When the 12 spies returned in Numbers chapter 13, they began to talk about their challenge.
Numbers 13:28-33 KJV 28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Notice how they started explaining how bad the problem was. They mentioned many things. They brought up Anak, but left it at that. The more they talked though, they finally say there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants. You see how they magnified the problem? Now Caleb was not magnifying the problem, he trusted that God would help them.
There’s another occasion with the children of Israel and a giant. In 1 Samuel 17. This is the story of David and Goliath. The armies of Israel, (who were men of war) would not fight because they were afraid. Then in comes David. There’s an interesting fact about David’s language during this whole story. He never calls Goliath by his name nor does he call him a giant. David, like Caleb, refused to magnify his problem. David did engage in some magnification, but he reserved that for God.
1 Samuel 17:45 KJV Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
The thing is our problems are not what we are supposed to be magnifying. No, we are supposed to magnify God. The problem is we take our eyes off of God and focus on our problems. The same way that Peter took his eyes off of Jesus as he was walking on the water to Him and began to sink, because he was focused on the problem.
If we keep our eyes on Jesus and magnify Him, we will see Him better. We can get a better understanding of His magnificent power. We can see that He is bigger and greater than any problem we face. We can see what the psalmist says:
3 For the LORD is an awesome God; a great king above all divine beings. 4 He holds in his hand the lowest parts of the earth and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5 The sea that he made belongs to him, along with the dry land that his hands formed. 6 Come! Let us worship and bow down; let us kneel in the presence of the LORD, who made us. (Psalm 95:3-6 ISV).
He holds the world in His hands, what is bigger than that? Not your problems. So change your focus and start magnifying the right thing.
Psalm 34:3 KJV O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
Leave a Reply