God Faithfully Leads Those who Faithfully Follow
My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land. (Num. 14:24)
Numbers 13:26-14:25; I Cor. 10:1-11
What Is God Saying?
It is proper for us to receive guidance from the ancient books of the Old Testament. Note especially I Cor. 10:11, "Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction." Much of the record of the wilderness wanderings in Numbers indicates that this second generation of the Exodus was rebellious and constantly complaining. Their negative attitudes led to negative actions. God decreed that their many failures, spawned by unbelief, must be punished. There are many examples of what not to do.
However, in the case of Caleb and Joshua, we have outstanding exceptions. Here were two people who, when the tide was running against them, believed God's word and dared to follow Him fully. Caleb had a different spirit and destiny. He and Joshua, following God faithfully, believing God totally, and obeying God without excuses, were the only two people of their generation who entered the promised land.
How Does This Apply To Us?
Their example is very relevant to our desire for more effective prayer today. "Giants in the land!" the other spies said. "Compared to them, we are grasshoppers." It is a graphic and persuasive comparison unless we look beyond the giants to God. Henrietta Mears (What The Bible Is All About, Gospel Light Publications, 1966, Page 61) has a great comparison that provides a stepping stone to success in praying. She is comparing the ten spies who wouldn't see it God's way and the two who did, "Like the ten, we can be pessimists; or like the two, optimists. Like the ten, we can put difficulties between God and us and say we are not able, or like the two, we can put God between the difficulties and us and say we are able." Having Caleb's different spirit is the way to pray. We never have to be intimidated by those who say "under the circumstances" when we come to the Lord who is over the circumstances.
Pray With Me
Great Shepherd of Israel, You faithfully lead those who faithfully follow. Your providence has never failed. Your mercies have never been exhausted.
I will not be afraid to have a different spirit. The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. They were pressured by fear, stampeded into folly, and hounded by discouragement. I am also passing through a wilderness. The world is at enmity with God. For all its abundance, it is hollow. For all its panaceas, it is sick. For all its counsel, it is lost. The Spirit of evil, fear, and compromise may change its pattern but never its purpose.
Give me the courage of Caleb, who knew the same temptations and suffered the same discouragements as others in the wilderness but followed you wholly. Lord, surround me with insulating grace. When walking amid follies, I will be wise; in the valley of discouragement, I will have hope; through the clouds of doubt, I will have faith. In the name of Him, whose transforming power can accomplish all my heart's desires and far more. Amen.
Moving On In The Life Of Prayer
When prayer loses importance, and we enter dry spells of spiritual lethargy, it may be because we have conformed to this world. The different spirit that brought Caleb triumphantly through all difficulties to the promised land is the same Spirit we need to keep prayer alive and well throughout our pilgrimage.
