Courage in Faith

 

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 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. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.” Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. (Joshua 14:6-13 ESV).

 

Forty-five years earlier Caleb and Joshua had encouraged Israel to enter the land of promise to receive their inheritance. But God’s people were afraid, so they refused. As a result, God made the people wander in the desert for forty years. Only their children would enter the land. (cf. Numbers 13-14). It takes courage to serve God in the world—sometimes more so among God’s own people. Caleb’s generation feared the people of the land more than they feared God. In effect, they said, “It would be better to die in the desert or to have stayed in Egypt than to follow God and have to face those giants. It’s not worth the milk and honey.” (cf. Numbers 14:1-9). So God let their whole generation die in the desert.

 

Discipleship has a price: it may cost no less than what Jesus paid. He bought us for a price; we are asked to be cognizant of the cost (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:20), which includes the patience to wait for God’s blessing, whether we wait a day, a year, or forty-five years, as Caleb did. This takes faith inspired courage.

 

Good things do happen to people who pay the price of discipleship and patiently wait for the fullness of the blessing. Through Jesus Christ we have the down payment on God’s rich blessings of life and joy (cf. Ephesians 1:14); and, the final payment will come when our sanctification is achieved. In the interim, if you can’t move your mountain, climb it!