Faith for a Faithless World - The Spirit of Joshua and Caleb

Now, these two saw the exact same thing as the other ten so why is the report so different? Because Caleb and Joshua understood the promise made by God. They understood that His promises mean more than the size of the enemy in the land. They had faith in the power of God not in the enormity of the task at hand. They knew in whom they had believed and that brings us back to our key verses for today:

 

If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." Numbers 14: 8-9

 

The Lord promised and the Joshua and Caleb knew that He will be faithful to keep His promise. The protection of your enemy is gone beloved as long as God is with you! Yet how many times do we lend more fear into our situations than there ought to be? Do we swallow up our problems with the promises God has made to us or do we allow our problems to swallow us up? We see this every day amongst our brethren. Christians saved by the blood of Jesus Christ yet swallowed up by their problems. Their self-talk a negative mix of making their giants bigger than life and forgetting the power that resides within them. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lies dormant inside them as their problems swallow up their walk. We can become like the Israelites in this story one step out of the Promised Land, yet so far away in their hearts from He who promised it to them.

 

All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." Numbers 14: 2-4

 

We too can start to blame God for our own faithless actions. Why did God allow this? Why did God allow that? Perhaps we can even go as far as wishing we were back in the world; back to being a slave. The Israelites had spent hundreds of years under the yoke of bondage and slavery in Egypt but here they were willing to go back to it, simply because the challenge seemed too great ahead. We too can come to Christ thinking everything will be easy and the second things come against us we trump them up into being bigger than they are, forget all God has already done in our lives, and wish to go back to the slavery and bondage the world held us in. We need to spirit of Caleb and Joshua in our lives. The spirit that says, "I don't care how big the giants are or how fortified the cities are, I know what God has promised me!"

 

And God has made us many promises beloved. They are all contained in His Word. They are bigger than any giant we may see on the horizon. They are stronger than any trial we may find ourselves in. God is leading us to our Promised Land. A land flowing with milk and honey. A land that we need to take possession of. That was all Israel needed to do. Walk into the land God had promised to them and trust that He will be bigger than whatever they might find. When the ten around us are spreading a negative report and the world seems faithless we need to respond as Joshua and Caleb with a faith that slays giants. The same faith that a shepherd boy would wield one day against Goliath. The same faith that Gideon and Samson would wield one day when the odds that were against them screamed "run!" The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Possess it and wield it today. Faith for a faithless world.

 

 

Reverend Anthony Wade July 27, 2010