The Promised Land. What does that bring to mind when you hear it? A land flowing with milk and honey? Sounds nice, right? But let me ask you this, what is your promised land? When we think of a land flowing with milk and honey, it sounds like a nice and relaxing place to chill out and be grateful. But there is a cost to entering the promised land: utter belief and dependence on God. He is calling you to an adventure in faith. Will you follow wherever He leads? No matter what?

God wants to raise up champions in His name! He has a land of promises for you. Promises he has made for you and your family, those you hold dear. But you have to grasp the importance of your faith. There are three things that will keep you from your promised land: unbelief, intimidation and a grasshopper complex.

In Numbers 13 we hear from the twelve spies who returned to report on the promised land. Two of them had good reports but the rest did not. They reported, “Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak [giants] there" (v. 28).

The spies reported that the people in the land were too strong, they had a superhuman army of giants, that the land they inhabited ate the people up because of the terrain or natural circumstances, and finally, they feared they could not penetrate the walls. But at the center of the matter, there was really only one thing that would keep them from taking their promised land. It wasn’t the giants in their way, or the walls keeping them out. It wasn’t all the impossible obstacles to cross or the people working on the side of the enemy. It was their own unbelief.
"So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:19).

They were focusing on what they saw, not what God had said. We need to focus on what God says, not what we see. Deuteronomy 6:23 says, “Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers.” He brought you out, to take you in. God did not rescue you so that you would become intimidated, frustrated, and without direction. He saved you from sin for a purpose. He delivered you from your situation for a reason. He brought your family through, because He is not finished with you. He has something He wants to bring you into. There is a promised land waiting where the completion of all the things He’s spoken to you will be fulfilled.
What’s keeping you out?

The spies said the strong people, their army, the walls and the circumstances surrounding the city would keep them out. But God was saying, 'If you will go, I will go with you. And show you things you’ve never dreamed of.' God said the only reason they would not walk into their promised land would be their unbelief. The wall didn’t stop them, not the giants, or the strong army, or the circumstances …. But their disbelief kept them out.

If God said it, it’s time to stand up and believe it. Believe what God said. Believe the promise He put in your heart.

“If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26).

But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Believe in God’s word, in His promises made to you, and you will not falter.

The second thing that kept them out was intimidation. You cannot be intimidated by what you see. You must, instead, believe what God has spoken to you. He has a way of shoving you out, and when He does, He will make room for you! The gift of God in you will open doors, the gift will pay the bills, and the gift will save your family!

The third thing that kept them out was a grasshopper complex. How you see yourself determines how your enemy sees you. If you believe as the spies did that, you are a mere grasshopper, then your opponents will see you that way as well. And the problem is not just in how you see yourself, but in how you see others that determines how you get into your promised land. When you see others as insignificant, when you can’t find their worth, you won't make it to your promised land. Do you see your children as grasshoppers? What about your co-workers, your students, your patients, your clients? Quit seeing those God has put in your life as grasshoppers. They are part of God’s destiny for your life, and you may not make it to the promised land without them!

Ask God to show you who you are and who He has placed around you. The promises God has spoken to you will not fall void. Believe in yourself, believe in those around you, and have faith in the promises of the Lord.