Fear or Courage

"Thus they told him, and said, 'We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely 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 too strong for us.' So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.'" -Numbers 13.27-32

The people have arrived at the edge of the Promised Land, and like any good leader, Moses sends a group to check out the land before they entire nation heads in. For forty days the twelve men move to the northern part of Canaan and then east to the Jordan as they head south again. As instructed they bring back some of the fruit of the land, it took two men to carry a single cluster of grapes. The land is good, everything that God had said it was, but ten members of the group see an issue, there are already people in the land, and some of them are giants.

When they get back to camp they show the fruit and tell how great the land is, but then they share that it cannot be taken. Ten of them spread a report that they had come this far for nothing because they could never overcome the inhabitants of the land. They saw some giants in well fortified cities and decided that it was too much for God. They were full of fear and that kept them from seeing the goodness that God wanted to give them, and as we'll see it kept them from receiving it.

But then there was Caleb, one of two, who knew that God would bring them into the land victoriously. He quiets the people and tells them that God will fulfill His promise, if they will simply trust Him and move forward courageously. Fear is easy, courage is hard, and the people allow fear to rule their lives.

Men, what choice do you make? Do you see the goodness of God's promised blessings in the shadow of the giants and turn back? Or do you see the city in the way of your promised blessing and storm it? Do you courageously trust God to deliver, or allow fear to keep you from even trying? What choice do you wish you would make? What is keeping you from choosing it?

Let us live courageously because it is the only way to receive the blessings of God. Let us refuse to give in to fear and boldly move forward, claiming the promises of God.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor