But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. "Let's go at once to take the land," he said. "We can certainly conquer it!" Numbers 13:30
Whenever my three-year-old nephew, Owen, is at my parents' home in South Georgia, he always wants to go to a little pond in their neighborhood and look for geese. There is one catch, however. He is scared of the geese. Because of this, whenever I agree to take him to look for geese, he immediately wants to be held. So, I hold him and carry him to the pond. As we are there, I continue to hold him. He holds on to me the entire time. As I think about it, this picture of my nephew going to the pond to see the geese, even though he is a bit scared of them, is a picture to us of what it looks like to obey God, even when we are scared. As we continue studying from the book of Numbers, we are going to talk today about two men who also knew what it was like to obey God, even when circumstances seem scary.
In our study yesterday, we talked about how 10 of the leaders in Israel let the fear of giants overcome their faith in God. There were many people in the land God promised them, and some of them were giants. Despite the fear of these 10 men, two men believed that God was bigger than the giants and chose faith over fear: Caleb and Joshua.
As the 10 leaders of Israel complained, Joshua and Caleb believed that God was going to help them overcome the giants and take the land that He had promised them. Yes, they, too, saw the giants in the land, but they did not lose sight of God. They knew that He was bigger, and they trusted Him. They knew that He would be faithful to do what He promised. Because of this, they encouraged the people to go, even when they were scared. If they were standing in front of you right now, they would tell you, too, to do what God is calling you to do, even when you are scared. The best part is this: You are not alone. God is with you and is bigger than any giant you face. Like my nephew, holding on to me when he is scared of the geese, we can cling to God, who is holding us the entire time. He is worth every ounce of our trust.
Laura CourtneySagebrush Staff Writer
When we are faced with fear, sometimes we need to take a few moments to take our eyes off of the giants we are facing and put them back on God. Right now, take time to refocus by listening to the song Stand in Your Love by Josh Baldwin. As you listen, focus on the power and strength of God and remember that He is with you as you face your giants.
Read Numbers 13:30-14:5 (NLT)
But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”
But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”
Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”
Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel.
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