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Grapes, giants and decisions – on the brink of the promised land

Reflect:

Google Maps has changed life as we know it. We’re never lost anymore. We have no need to ask for directions! The journey from Mount Sinai to the promised land was meant to have been an 11-day trek, but the Israelites didn’t enter the land for 40 years. They didn’t have a problem with directions. Instead, their problem was trust.

What set the response of Caleb and Joshua apart from that of the rest of the spies?

We often think that courage is the absence of fear. But fear is unavoidable. It’s as natural to us as breathing. What really matters is how we deal with it. Will we let it take hold of us, or will we take hold of it? True courage isn’t the absence of fear, but a resolve to carry on despite the fear.

Caleb and Joshua saw the same land as the other spies. They saw the giants and felt the fear of being like grasshoppers before then. What set them apart from the others was what they did with the fear: they trusted God. ‘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,’ they said (verse 8). There wasn’t a shred of doubt in this response. They chose to believe God and not give in to their fear. This is real courage.

Read on and you’ll see that God honours the ‘different spirit’ he sees in Caleb by including him among the people who will enter the promised land. Caleb’s example shows us that God sees the heroically difficult acts that no one else sees. God loves it when his people follow him wholeheartedly and trust him completely. It may feel difficult to be different to others right now – it takes more courage to live with faith than with fear – but God sees and God honours.

Now what?

The report from the spies was that the land was filled with opportunities (big grapes) and threats (big giants). Now, isn’t that life? God promises great things, but we also face giant-sized challenges. What matters is how we respond. God doesn’t ask us to be super-human, but he does ask us to trust him today.

What giants are you facing right now? It’s OK to feel fear, but don’t give in to it by leaving God out of the equation. If God is for us, we can step out in faith.

Respond

Read Romans 8.31. What difference can this truth make to your life today?