Conquering Life’s Challenges
Caleb trusted the Lord to conquer life’s challenges. He was about forty years old when he first entered the Promised Land. He went on an assignment with Joshua and ten other leaders to check out the land that had been promised to Abraham.
Caleb’s Faith
The land was filled with abundance, especially compared to the desert in which they had been living. However, it was also filled with a great enemy and fortified cities. Caleb and Joshua saw an opportunity for God to fulfill His promises. The other ten spies saw only the obstacles. When they reported back to the rest of the nation, Caleb and Joshua’s minority report was not received well.
Forty Difficult Years
For the next forty years, Caleb was forced to wander in the desert. It was not even his fault. He had trusted God to keep His promise even when the faith of others faltered. Instead of losing faith, Caleb remained faithful.
Forty years later, Caleb and Joshua got to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to the nation of Israel. Fortified cities and great armies fell as God led them into the Promised Land. As the other tribes begin to settle in, Caleb continues to walk in faith.
God’s Promise Has No Expiration Date
At the age of 85, Caleb reflected on the land God had promised him 45 years earlier. That land remained unconquered. In fact, the three major cities in that area were inhabited by the decedents of giants. However, Caleb remained confident in the failing promises of God.
In Joshua 14, Caleb came to Joshua and confidently asked that he be allowed to take the land of the giants.
“Here I am today, eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then. Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.” Joshua 14:10-12
Trusting God to Overcome
Caleb refused to focus on the many obstacles. The giants, the fortified cities, even his advanced age could not prevent the Lord from fulfilling His promises. In fact, he kept his focus on the promises of God, knowing that the power of God could overcome his weaknesses.
We can chose to focus on our weakness or we can focus on His strength.
Caleb could have easily whined about his lost opportunities. The best part of his life was spent in the desert instead of the land the Lord had promised to him – and it was not even his fault. However, Caleb refused to wallow in regret. He chose to keep his eyes focused on the future the Lord had planned for him.
Bottom line: We can complain about the lost opportunities from our past or we can trust the promises of God and attack the challenges in front of us!
Katie was just over 6 months old when she faced one of the most difficult times of her life. She was having kidney failure and was brought into Dallas Children’s Medical Center for a catheter placement so we could begin peritoneal dialysis. She was very tiny so as the catheter was place in her abdomen it nicked her bowl and she became septic. She quickly became very ill. The medical team recommended that we seriously consider letting her go, because of the many severe medical problems she faced. We were forced to make a difficult decision to discontinue treatment or to take drastic measures to save her life.