And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

If you’re a movie fan, you might argue that the most famous spy in the world is…Bond… James Bond, the British agent who’s been played by a dozen actors in at least 25 films.  But the Bible also has a spy of great reputation, and his name was Caleb.

When Moses selected 12 spies to enter the land of Canaan as scouts, 10 returned with an overwhelmingly negative report. “The cities have walls as high as the sky, and the men there made us look like grasshoppers,” they reported. The other two, Caleb and Joshua, counseled the Israelites to attack Canaan because they believed God would grant them victory. Caleb said he made this report “according to his convictions” (Joshua 14:6).

Because most of the Israelites lacked trust, God didn’t allow the people to enter the promised land of Canaan until the doubters had died. Eventually, Joshua succeeded Moses as the Israelite’s leader. Caleb was not perturbed by the most daunting tasks because he believed in God’s promises. Caleb said, “I followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly” (Joshua 14:8).

The other scouts spread their discouragement because they focused solely on the difficult circumstances they faced. Living by faith would have led them to focus on the promises of God instead, as Joshua and Caleb did. Faith isn’t only believing in promises but it’s trusting the character of the God who is making those promises. Has he met you in the past?  You can trust Him to do so in the future.

 

Resource reading: Joshua 14:6-15