Reclaiming Canaan

During a conversation with a friend, she shared a childhood memory of falling off an old gas tank at the age of three and breaking her leg. The tank was used to heat the home. We laughed when I asked if she was pretending it was a horse. It’s incredible how a child’s imagination can turn anything into an adventure.
We had one of those tanks behind our house, and I rode that old horse many miles. Childhood creativity could work magic, like making a telephone from tin cans tied on each end of a string. Raking pine straw into a large square and sectioned by smaller squares became a playhouse with front and back door entries. The two-can telephone was always in my kitchen, just like Mom’s.
“On some days, my niece (who was a year younger than me) would come over to play. We would both make these pretend houses, which we would set up next to each other. We always built our little dwellings next to the gas tank horse in case we decided to take a ride into town. Then, we would stretch a make-believe telephone line between the two pine straw homes.
Somehow, the innocence of those years faded along with the imagination. The motivational writer William Author Ward wrote, “If you can imagine it, you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”
A child’s imagination is a training ground for vision, and vision is a divine gift given by God. Scripture teaches us that people who don’t have vision perish, but our happiness lies in following God’s path (Proverbs 29:18).
One day, some parents gathered their children and brought them before Jesus so that He could bless them. When the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents, telling them to leave Jesus alone. However, Jesus called for the children to come to Him, saying the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like them (Luke 18:15-17). Why? Because children have an innocence and a vision for things that can be.
Fear can hinder our vision and faith. In the biblical story of the children of Israel, Moses sent 12 spies to explore the land of Canaan. Ten returned with a negative report, saying the people were like giants. They were afraid and believed that they would be killed if they entered the land. Their fear controlled their faith, and as a result, they could not see God’s promise. In contrast, Joshua and Caleb had faith in God and believed that He would give them the land. They did not let fear steal their vision, and as a result, they were able to lead the new generation of Israelites into the promised land. The first generation died outside the land because they allowed fear to control their faith (Numbers 13 and 14).
What is obstructing your vision today? Is it fear? Remember, if you contemplate fear, your faith will be contaminated. Hold on to God’s promises for your life and allow Him to restore the vision He placed in you. Don’t let anyone discourage you from seeking the Lord or introducing your loved ones to Him. Jesus welcomed the children into His presence despite the protest of the disciples. Today, let us walk in the promises of God’s love as He restores the vision of His eternity within us. Let us reclaim our Canaan.
Habakkuk 2:3
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

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Cheryl Mixon-Cruce is Pastor of Ochlockonee Bay United Methodist Church and Sopchoppy United Methodist Church.