Living Room Study

Joshua 14

“As you see, the Lord has kept me (Caleb) alive these 45 years as He promised, since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness.  Here I am today, 85 years old.  I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out.  My strength for battle and for going out and coming in is now as it was then.”  Joshua 14: 10-11

How long would you wait on the Lord?  5 years?  5 months?  5 minutes?  I believe we wait on God, in direct proportion to our understanding of His promise.

Caleb and Joshua believed God’s promise.  So when they returned from scouting the land, what they observed in Canaan was arbitrary to the fact that God promised they would take the land.  The bad news for their generation was that almost everyone believed the faithless reports…everyone but Joshua and Caleb.  This should be a lesson to us all: Live faithlessly, and reap the fruits of faithlessness.  Live faithfully, and experience unseen things miraculously realized.

Caleb was 40 years old when he & Joshua scouted the Promised Land.  At the age of 85, he was given the opportunity to take the land again.  He could have complained, or blamed his fear on his old age, but Caleb was energized by the opportunity.  How so?

Caleb understood faith.  Faith says, “I can’t, but God can”.  When he was a young man, he didn’t trust in his youthful strength.  And when he was an old man, he wasn’t deterred by his physical limitations.  Was Caleb endowed with supernatural strength?  I don’t believe so.  Caleb had faith.

If God promises victory, it really has nothing to do with your strength.  God is your strength.  You simply have to believe and work as hard as you can.  He will supply what we lack.  I say, “simply believe”, but the resolve to fight is more than intellectual ascent.  It is faith in action.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by God’s Word, the Bible. 

Putting God’s Word into action is your decision.  God has already decided to give you victory if you faithfully follow Him.

Whether you’re 18 or 80, have faith and have courage.  God will be your strength!

Blessings.

Steve Wiggins