I was a science teacher for a time in the last season of my public teaching career.  God led me to this fascinating work then equipped my own feelings of inadequacies with gifts of encouragement and the joy of learning new things!  Hired by the Department of Defense, it allowed opportunities to teach in ways that suited my style of helping kids learn—more doing and less lecture!  The curriculum was designed carefully and specifically by other teachers for the sole purpose of taking the fear of learning science, technology, engineering, and math from fifth graders. 

Many kids (and teachers) think that this area of learning is beyond their abilities to learn and just could not see themselves doing the work of scientists and engineers.  So, our work was to change their minds so that more students would be drawn to STEM instead being driven away from it—all because of their own fears.  The reasons this program was created by the military leaders and supported by the Department of Defense was for their own workforce.  The military needed more people to fill the now and future vacancies in science, tech, engineering, and math so they readily supported STARBASE—a program meant to encourage students to pursue more education related to STEM so they could be contributors in our world!

This program was freely offered to all schools in the area.  We were located on an Air Guard base, located by the airport, that gave us a building of operation where students and their teachers.  Some teacher in the beginning were skeptical at first but after the first few minutes of seeing their students readily engage and observing the fun they were having in DOING STEM activities; they were sold!  Another benefit of the program was to see students tagged as trouble makers be so drawn in that they forgot to cause trouble, which amazed their teachers!

Our goals were met and exceeded as a team.  We replaced the fear with fun, innovative hands-on experiences that totally changed their perspective.  Using less lecture and more “now, you do it” activities; we introduced them to all they could do and accomplish now and later!  They soon discovered that what they first thought about world of STEM as being unreachable and unconquerable was now in their grasp!  Perspectives can be changed by trusting the Teacher who cares for them and wants the best for them.

Twelve men went to spy out Canaan,
(Ten were bad, two were good)
What do you think they saw in Canaan?
(Ten were bad, two were good)
Some saw giants, big and tall!
Some saw grapes in clusters fall,
Some saw God was in it all.
(Ten were bad, two were good).

If you are a “lifer,” one who grew up in church, you will remember this Sunday School song.  You also probably sang the song instead of reading it…And now this chorus is probably stuck in your head!  But it summarizes the story we are about to read. One man from each of the twelve tribes was sent out by Moses to check out their new home—the land God promised to them over the generations since Abraham—“a land flowing with milk and honey”!  They were sent and they went. They came back with two perspectives of thinking:  We can’t.  We can.  Read on…see what happens in the next couple of chapters on the journey!

Numbers 13

Exploring Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”

³ So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. ⁴ These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; ⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; ⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? ²⁰ How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

²¹ So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. ²² They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. ²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

Report on the Exploration

²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Our human evaluation of any situation or circumstance is skewed until we seek the viewpoint and perspective of God.  If God is our Master Teacher; we trust our Teacher as the One who can do anything that is needed on earth to fulfill His plan and purpose.  If we trust only in our own abilities and what we have on hand at any given moment; our perspective is small and our purpose for living life weakened.  If we trust only what we see, we will “play it safe” avoiding the learning adventures God has planned for each one of us.  It’s all in our view of things—our perspective.  Twelve went out to check out the Promised Land.  Only two came back thrilled and ready to move in!  Trust has everything to do with our perspective.

Jesus came to change the view of the religious, the skeptics, and even the oppressive government leaders who forgot God and opposed Jesus as the Son of God.  Jesus came down from His throne in heaven and walked the earth, seeking to save the lost without God. Jesus was a “breath of fresh air” with new ways to think about real life to the oppressed, sick, crippled, blind, deaf, and lost.  Jesus changed the perspective of God in everyone He met. (See Matthew 5-7 for more!)

And we are so glad He did!  What a magnificent Plan of God to send His Son to help us see life in view of how God sees life and all He has created with purpose.  Jesus changed everything when He came and at the same time fulfilled the Law that God gave the Israelites centuries earlier.  Our God was, is and always will be—amazing, generous, and forever faithful in His love and care of us.  Believe in His Son, Jesus and we begin to understand more of His Higher thinking Perspective with Purpose, designed by God for us.  Jesus died to save us and lives to receive us into His Kingdom!  It’s freely offered and within our grasp!

Our response?  It’s all up to us!  If only we could see life from His point of view and trust what He says.  If only we could immediately obey when He speaks to us through His Word and Holy Spirit who lives in us.  If only we could drive out all our human fears with His relentless love.  If only we could truly think, say, and behave in ways that reflect who we say we really believe.  Pause to pray.  Be still and know God more.  Let go of what we want and take hold of all God wants to give to us and do through us.  Live with expectant hope now for Jesus is coming back soon—He promised!  God delivers on His promises.

Lord,

Wow, the memories that you place in our hearts that connect the dots of our learning, growing, and transforming in ways that change our perspective of thinking even today are always amazing! Thank you for daily reminders of how rescue me, cleanse and renew my mind. Thank you for allowing me to understand from your viewpoint with a longing to know more! You are God. I trust you, dear Jesus.  I give you my life because you are Life to me!  Thank you for your gifts of joy and peace when I change my mind!

In Jesus Name, Amen