Who cries when they work out?! Umm, ok so maybe I did this morning, not because I was working out, but because I was thinking and praying on so many things. The frailty of life, pain we go through, my new season of being a preteen mom. No one ever told me how much mental strength it takes, or how very much fun it is to get to know a more grown up version of your child! I find myself wondering if I have what it takes to raise these not so little ones in my life? I was also thinking about Caleb and Joshua, the two that gave a “good report” Numbers 13-14.
Can you envision it? The whole community was there........
“We entered the land where you sent us, and indeed it does flow with milk and honey — here is its fruit! However the people living in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the ‘Anakim there. ‘Amalek lives in the area of the Negev; the Hitti, the Y’vusi and the Emori live in the hills; and the Kena‘ani live by the sea and alongside the Yarden.”
Kalev silenced the people around Moshe and said,
“We ought to go up immediately and take possession of it; there is no question that we can conquer it.”
But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people, because they are stronger than we are”; and they spread a negative report about the land they had reconnoitered for the people of Isra’el by saying, “The land we passed through in order to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there were giant! We saw the N’filim, the descendants of ‘Anak, who was from the N’filim; to ourselves we looked like grasshoppers by comparison, and we looked that way to them too!”
Do you hear the plea of Caleb(Kalev)? He silenced the people. I do not think he was soft spoken in this moment. I can hear his determination. In the face of so much unbelief he says, “there is NO question we can conquer it!!!”
Again the people cried out in dismay and we see what Joshua(Yhoushua) had to say about it: Y’hoshua the son of Nun and Kalev the son of Y’funeh, from the detachment that had reconnoitered the land, tore their clothes and said to the whole community of Isra’el,
“The land we passed through in order to spy it out is an outstandingly good land! If Adonai is pleased with us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us — a land flowing with milk and honey. Just don’t rebel against Adonai. And don’t be afraid of the people living in the land — we’ll eat them up! Their defense has been taken away from them, and Adonai is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
Do you hear the fervor of Joshuas words? His words should ring LOUD through out generations!
As I read the words of these two men, I am in awe of the strength of heart they both had. Caleb and Joshua were unmoved by the majority. They were passionate and unwavering in their resolve. They knew they were stronger with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob on their side! Can you imagine their dismay when everyone around them felt like they couldn’t do it—when they KNEW that their Adonai would prove himself in EVERY way? No wonder they yelled out with such strength!
We know the story. The unbelief of the Israelites had given them another forty of wandering. The exception? Caleb and Joshua. They believed that Adonai would help them succeed. They were the only men of their generation to see the promised land.
How about you and I? What is the report we will bring for our lives? It is easy to think the worst when we are in pain and do not see a way out, but remember our God sees what we do not. Will we rebel against the good that the Father has for us? Will we speak a bad report over our lives or will speak the truth? He has made us STRONG!! Adonai our God is with us, we do not need to be afraid!
So as my tears were mixed with sweat and I could hardly see while I was working out, I remembered these two men and felt encouraged. They inspire strength and courage! Their belief in Adonai was stronger than their circumstances. Everything else was inconsequential in comparison to what the Father had for them. I want their ZEAL, but more than that, their unwavering TRUST in a God who was faithful! He HAS and WILL continue to prove himself in our lives. Are we willing to give the good report? Friend, you are stronger than you think you are!!
So with that said, bring on the teen years!..LOL love Tess