From Ben – 19 March 2017
One of my favourite Old Testament stories is found in Numbers 13. It tells of how 12 spies were sent into the promised land to spy it out and bring back a report to Moses and the nation. 10 of the spies came back with a message of fear and defeat. They said that the land was inhabited by people the size of giants and their city walls were impregnable. They even said that they felt like grasshoppers compared to them.
However, Caleb and Joshua were different. They saw the beauty and potential of the land. They were whole-hearted and enthusiastic, wanting to step out in faith and take the land as God had promised. Well, sadly we know how it turned out. The people listened to those 10 faithless, fearful spies. The result was that the nation wandered as failures in the desert for 40 tiresome, long years.
However, there is a happy ending to the saga. When the nation eventually crossed over and took possession of the promised land, Caleb and Joshua were rewarded for their faith and whole-heartedness.
Let us be people who are full of faith and whole-hearted. Let us not see the problem, but the potential, as we trust God and step out in faith. God rewards whole-hearted faith.