A Heart Of Faith

For today’s meditation we focus on Joshua 14:7, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart.” (ESV)

Of late we are studying the life of Caleb, and the above mentioned verse are the words of Caleb to Moses. Moses had sent twelve leaders from the twelve tribes of Israel to spy on the land of Canaan which was the land promised to them by the Lord. When all twelve returned from their mission this was the response from ten of those leaders.

The report of the ten spies

This is found in Numbers 13:31,“Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are."” (ESV)

These ten men who spied on the land for forty days brought back this report to Moses, and the people of Israel. They were certain that they could not contend with the men in the Promised Land because they were much stronger than them. For many long years these Israelites were in cruel bondage in the land of Egypt with no hope of being delivered from their predicament. The Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, broke their bondage, and brought them out with gold, silver and many material blessings which they acquired from the Egyptians. Also the Israelites witnessed God’s mighty deliverance when He made a way through the Red Sea, and also destroyed the Egyptian army in that same sea. Though the Israelites had witnessed all of this they still did not believe they could overcome the men who inhabited the land that God had promised to them.

Caleb’s report

This was how Caleb summed it up as found in Joshua 14:8,“But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God.” (ESV)

The ten men who spied on the land gave the report that the land had giants, and conditions too hard to conquer, and that it was impossible to possess the same. When the multitude of Israelites heard this report their hearts melted. While ten men spoke based on what they saw, Caleb who saw the same things spoke words of faith based on God’s promises to the Israelites.

Caleb’s confidence

We read about this in Numbers 14:9, ....“The LORD is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them; so don't be afraid." (GNB)

While ten men only saw the problems, two men in that group were able to see God, and depended on the promises that He had made to them.

Let me highlight to you again Joshua 14:7, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart.” (ESV)

While Caleb brought word that came because of God, and the faith that he had in Him, the others just brought word based on what they saw with their physical eyes. It was Caleb’s faith in God that distinguished him from the other ten men.

The faith that Jesus commended

Jesus taught about faith this way in Mark 11:23, “I can guarantee this truth: This is what will be done for someone who doesn't doubt but believes what he says will happen: He can say to this mountain, 'Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,' and it will be done for him.” (GW)

This is what Jesus declared will be done for anyone who has faith. As we progress in our journey of faith we will have hardships, we will face giants, but as children of God we can speak only about the problems, or we can speak words of faith that come from our heart. Oftentimes, we face many difficulties, these could be not having a job, health issues, financial constraints or problems pertaining to our family or children. When faced with mountain like problems we don’t need to speak about the problems, but can speak God’s promises with faith from our hearts. As we do so all these stones that are hindrances, will become stepping stones that help us to overcome our difficulties. Generally when there are hardships and trails we get so preoccupied with them, and speak of them continually, thereby hindering our own progress in this journey of faith.

Twelve men explored the same land, and saw the same things. However, ten of them were discouraged, and spoke words of fear that discouraged the entire group of Israelites. Let us be cautious that our words are filled with faith so that God can fulfill His purposes through us.