“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.’”(Numbers 13:30)
Caleb went with Joshua and 10 other leaders in Israel to spy out the Promised Land. They saw its abundant fruit and that it was a land that flowed with milk and honey (Numbers 13:26-27). They also saw its defenses and that it was inhabited by strong and powerful people including giants (Numbers 13:28-29). Along with Joshua, Caleb believed Israel was “well able to overcome it”. “But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we’”(Numbers 13:31).
All the spies saw the same circumstances that they faced: an abundant land for them to enjoy, but that was well defended. Most of the spies limited themselves to looking at only their own ability to conquer the land. They said, “We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we”. They were intimidated by the giants and this made them feel like grasshoppers compared to these giants (Numbers 13:33).
But as Joshua and Caleb looked at these same challenging circumstances, they did not limit themselves by only looking at themselves and their own ability to conquer the land. Instead, they looked up. They looked up in faith and placed their faith in God’s ability to conquer the land, “and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey'” (Numbers 14:8-9).
As Christians we face the same challenges in life that other people face (e.g. problems at work, challenges in our families, financial concerns, etc.). I often fail to look up and look at myself and think, “How am I going to solve this problem I face?” When I do this I come away discouraged feeling like a grasshopper trying to solve my problems.
When I face these same problems by remembering God’s power to act in my life and relying on his ability to lead me through these circumstances, my heart is lifted up and my life is filled with peace, joy, and love even though I am facing the same circumstances. I am trusting in His power even though I don’t know how He is going to solve everything. I only know that He can and He will.
Today is the Lord’s Day! As we worship Him, let us praise Him for His power to act in our lives and lift us up from feeling like grasshoppers and making us conquerors!
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).