When asked if I’d accept a new responsibility at work, I wanted to say no. I thought of the challenges and felt inadequate to handle them. But as I prayed and sought guidance from the Bible and other believers, I realised God was calling me to say yes. Through the Scriptures, I was also reassured of His help. So, I accepted the task, but still with some dread.
I see myself in the Israelites and the ten spies who recoiled from occupying Canaan (Numbers 13:27-29, 31-33; 14:1-4). They too saw the difficulties, wondering how they could defeat the powerful people in the land and subdue their fortified cities. “We seemed like grasshoppers,” the spies said (13:33), and the Israelites grumbled, “Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?” (14:3).
Only Caleb and Joshua remembered that God had already promised He’d give Canaan to His people (Genesis 17:8; Numbers 13:2). They drew confidence from His promise, seeing the difficulties ahead in the light of God’s presence and help. They’d face the difficulties with His power, protection and resources, not their own (Numbers 14:6-9).
The task God gave me wasn’t easy—but He helped me through it. While we won’t always be spared difficulties in His assignments, we can—like Caleb and Joshua—face them knowing, “The Lord is with us” (v. 9).
By Karen Huang
REFLECT & PRAY
When have you felt inadequate to do a task you knew God was asking you to do? How do Caleb and Joshua’s examples help?
Dear God, please help me to follow You wholeheartedly.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The word picture used to describe the land promised to God’s covenant people is one that “[flows] with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27; 14:8). This attention-grabbing phrase that depicts richness and abundance first appears in Exodus 3:8, where it describes the land God has allotted to His people: “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” The word flowing is as significant to the phase as the other words. The same Hebrew word (zuv) is translated “gushed out” in Psalm 78:20 and 105:41 . Such visual images of what God has promised helps to strengthen our faith.
Arthur Jackson
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