Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly […] Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

- Joshua 14:6-8, 10-12

In our study this past Sunday out of Numbers 13-14, we saw the contrast between the unbelief of the 10 spies who turned the Israelites away from inheriting the Promised Land, and the faith of Caleb and Joshua who longed to receive it. While the Israelites rebelled and plotted a delusional return trip to Egypt that would never be, Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes and pleaded for the community to renew their courage in the Lord to take the land.

Sadly, the entire generation of Israelites that rejected God’s plan were then forced to wander the wilderness as judgment for their unbelieving and disobedient hearts. But God promised Caleb and Joshua they would live to step foot and settle in the land of promise because they had “a different spirit” and “followed the Lord wholeheartedly”.

Here in Joshua 14, 45 years have passed, and Caleb is just as devout, just as vigorous, just as believing in God’s victory as he was all those years earlier when he first stood at the edge of the land. He’s suffered the consequences of others – 45 years of deferred blessing because of the unbelief of his generation – but it never embittered him against God. His hunger to do what should have been done all those years before is palpable when he declares, “Now give me this hill country…” and his trust in God’s Word remains unwavering when he says, “… the Lord helping me, I will drive [my enemies] out just as he said.”

You and I will face setbacks in life, some of which will be of no consequence of our own actions. Filled with faith, trust, and enthusiasm, we may still experience the bitterness of deferred blessings like Caleb. But Lord willing, we will not lose heart, nor the desire to continue to obey to our very last day. We should endeavor, when we near the end of our road, to be just as vibrant in our trust as the days before our troubles and trials; to stand like Caleb and hold fast to the wholehearted trust that distinguished him from the beginning.

The future comes whether we embrace it or not, whether we face it with trust in God or faithless resignation. May we choose trust from beginning to end.

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Questions for reflection and prayer

Are there any areas of your life or circumstances where a blessing has felt delayed or deferred? Name them in prayer before the Lord.
What are your feelings toward God in those areas of pain or frustration? Do you find yourself tempted to harbor a quiet resentment or bitterness toward God for the way things have played out? Or are you still waiting on the Lord’s direction with faith? Confess your honest feelings before God.
Ask the Lord to not only give you “a different spirit” like Caleb, but his Holy Spirit to sustain you toward continued, vibrant trust that will carry you through this time and all the times ahead. Imagine yourself in your twilight years still confessing your belief in God’s help and victory, and ask the Lord to make that vision a reality.