Solomon wrote, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7. In the days of Moses and Joshua, Caleb understood the importance of faithful trust. He was one of the twelve spies that Moses sent to search out the Promised Land. Caleb and Joshua came back with a positive report. Caleb, at that time forty years old, urged Moses to take the land, stating that Israel was more than able” to conquer it, Numbers 13:30. However, the other ten spies only saw the worst side of life and came back filled with doubt and unbelief. There were the realists who saw the giants of the land and said the people of Israel were like grasshoppers compared to their enemies. But if you read numbers 13:33 closely, you’ll notice that it says they “were like grasshoppers in our own sight.” They were beaten by the way they thought. They looked at themselves as insects and then they saw their enemies as giants. People often will look at you the way you look at yourself.
The unbelief of the spies spread like a wildfire through the Israelite camp and the nation backed away from entering the Promised Land. Because of this, God condemned Israel to wander the wilderness until the unbelieving older generation, except for Joshua and Caleb, had died. Forty-five years later, under the leadership of Joshua, Israel was ready for its second run at the Promised Land. Caleb, now eighty-five years old, came to Joshua and said he had been promised a mountain under Moses and that the mountain was still his. Amazingly, the last we see of Caleb is as an old man still pursuing God’s promises. Neither age, nor circumstances, nor failures as a people would ever keep Caleb from pursuing the promises of God.
Our situation is similar today. There are some who look at their surroundings, their history, and their weakness and then say they can’t live as a Christian or spread the gospel to other people. Because of this many congregations are fading, many souls are despondent, and many things are left undone. We need to raise people like Caleb. People who recognize that God is bigger than any issue we may face. We always pursue the promises of God and claim his blessings for our lives. God will still bless his people even today.