Dealing with the Mindset of Impossibilities 1

Dealing with The Mindset of Impossibilities

By Apostle Felix

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. 

Numbers 13: 31 – 33

Maybe you have met people who are addicted to negativity. All they see about life is impossibility. You cannot just suggest anything to them without doubting the possibility of the materialization of an idea. They have this obsession for negativity. It is these kind of people who retard progress in an organization, church or family. They are difficult people to deal with. The mindset of impossibility is shaped usually by negative factors, such as an abusive upbringing. A child growing up in an abusive family is likely to grown up with a mindset of impossibility. That child’s worldview has been clouded with negative words and physical abuses.  A worldview is a collection of attitudes, values, stories and expectations about the world around us, which inform our every thought and action. It is expressed through one’s behaviour. 

5  How we remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt for free! And the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic!
Numbers 11: 5

The mindset of impossibility will forgot the rigor of slavery and miss the meager meals in slavery. The minds of the children of Israel were conditioned to slavery so much that freedom did not make sense to them. They had lived in slavery the rest of their lives and freedom was a far-fetched idea. It was an impossible idea. This is the reason why God did not allow Moses to be brought up as a slave. He grew up as a free person in the palace. Moses’ mind was different from the rest of the children of Israel. He knew what freedom was. God had to raise him as a free man in order to free the salves.  At least Moses had a mindset of possibility that was blurred by failure. God sent Moses back to Egypt because He knew that he would face Pharaoh not as a slave but as a free person. He confronted Pharaoh not with the language and demeanor of a slave. His language and tone  was of a free man. He was not pleading with Pharaoh, but was commanding him to release the children of Israel.

1  And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

Exodus 5: 1

Israel left Egypt physically, but the mind of slavery walked out of Egypt with them. They were out of Egypt but Egypt  was still in them. They left the taskmasters back in Egypt, but the taskmasters of impossibilities were in their minds. The worst slavery is of the mind. The Egyptians were not in the wilderness but Israel was still living in fear of men. The mind was their limitation.  The twelve spies sent to spy the land, saw the goodness of the land and the giants. The people of the land did not know that they were spies. But yet the ten spies came back with a bad report, despite seeing the fruitfulness of the land and how afraid the people were of Israel. Instead of focusing on the good report, they saw themselves as grasshoppers in their sight. It was not the Anaks who saw them as grasshoppers, but themselves. The mindset of impossibilities made them to see themselves as grasshoppers and magnified the people of the land.