Last week when we looked at Jesus’ sending out the twelve beginning with Matthew 9.36, one of the principles was that our mission will face challenges. It’s a hostile environment out there:

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10.16, ESV)

With that in mind, the opening to Deuteronomy 9 jumped out at me:

Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you. (Deuteronomy 9.1 – 3, ESV)

Remember the sons of Anak? I jokingly referred to them a few days ago in connection with my friend Rick Bereit, who is 6 feet 9 inches tall. But they were no joke to the Israelites. They were scared to death of them:

Then 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 are…All the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Numbers 13.31 – 33, ESV)

But Moses is saying essentially, “Fret not.” It’s a good word for whatever difficulty we face. We learned a little chorus decades ago:

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?
Got any mountains you can't tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible.
He does the things others cannot do.

There’s more in Deuteronomy 9: an important lesson about prayer. Stay tuned.