“Succeeding Where Others Fail”
Joshua 13:1-14:12
One of the most difficult tasks we have in life is to be faithful and to do the best you can when you are not in the spotlight, and someone else gets all the attention and credit.
The hardest instrument to learn to play in life is “second fiddle.”
The real test of our commitment to the Lord is how well we function when we have to work behind the scenes, making it possible for someone else to be in the limelight.
Joshua’s friend Caleb is one of the best examples in the Bible of that kind of commitment.
There is not a lot said about Caleb, although we do know that he was equal to Joshua in his unwavering commitment to the Lord.
Caleb was kind of like a staff minister.
We first hear of Caleb upon Israel’s first opportunity to enter into the Promised Land.
Numbers 13:30 NIV
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
Caleb had a faith that realized if God had led them to the Promised Land, He could lead them through it.
Out of 600,000 men in Israel when they arrived at Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter the Promised Land.
When Joshua was chosen to be the successor to Moses, Caleb did everything he could to support Joshua.
Caleb’s faithfulness is unsurpassed in the bible.
At the end of chapter 12, not all of the land is conquered, but the main military threats have been defeated throughout the land.
Joshua is 100 years old, and God tells him that there are other lands to take over.
Joshua is dividing the land between the tribes of Israel when his old friend, Caleb, comes to remind him of a promise made 45 years earlier.
Joshua 14:7-12 NIV
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, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, `The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’
10 "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 desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 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. 12 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."
Three things made Caleb succeed where 600,000 had failed before.
First, Caleb was a man of Conviction
When Caleb brought back the report of the land, he said, “And I brought him back a report according to my convictions.” V. 7
He had such strong convictions that the people did not understand, and when he spoke to them telling them God would give them the land if they would possess it, they wanted to stone him.
Caleb asked for the hill country of Hebron, which meant he would have to fight the Anakites.
These were the giants that had struck such fear in the other 10 spies.
Why did Caleb want Hebron, which was about 20 miles south of Jerusalem?
Hebron was an important part of their heritage.
• It was where Sarah, Abrahams wife had died and was buried.
• Abraham was later buried there.
• Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah were buried there.
• It was where they buried the bones of Joseph.
Hebron had great spiritual significance.
Caleb was a man of convictions because he believed God would do what He promised He would do.
Caleb had to wait 45 years for his desires to come to fruition, but he never gave up.
During those 45 years it would have been easy to compromise his convictions and side with the majority, but he had stand alone faith.
He refused to give in to peer pressure or popular opinion.
He did not fear what others thought about him.
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
To succeed where others have failed Caleb was a man of convictions, and …
Second, Caleb never stopped believing
Even though he had to wait 45 years, he never stopped believing God’s promise.
TRUE FAITH WAITS
Joshua 14:14 NIV
Hebron has belonged to Caleb because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.
Caleb had many disappointments, yet he never stopped believing.
• The heartbreaking report of the other 10 spies.
• The peoples lack of faith in them and God.
• Wandering another 38 years in the wilderness.
• The funerals of the entire adult generation.
The real test of faith is how we follow the Lord during times of heartbreak, disappointment, and adversity.
Caleb never stopped believing God’s promise and said to Joshua, “The Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as He said.”
Caleb drove the Anakites from the land, unlike the majority of the other tribes of Israel.
Instead of driving the enemy from the land, the majority of the others were more interested in their temporary comfort than their complete obedience.
The results of this was that pagan practices would become a part of Israelites worship.
Matthew 22:37 NIV
"`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
The Lord always honors those who wholeheartedly follow Him.
Sometimes the reward will come in this life, but if not, it will definitely come in the next.
Sometimes life is not fair, but we must remember, there is still a Heaven and Hell.
Caleb was a man of conviction, he never stopped believing, and …
Third, Caleb was never guilty of envy.
At Kadesh-Barnea, Caleb took the initiative to encouraging the Israelites to trust God and to go and possess the land.
How easy could it have been for Caleb to become envious when God chose Joshua to succeed Moses?
Instead of being envious, Caleb submitted to Joshua’s leadership.
James 3:16 NIV
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
Envy is such a horrible sin that God included it in the Ten Commandments.
Someone once said, “As rust corrupts iron, envy corrupts man.”
Mark 15:10 even tells us that the reason the priest’s handed Jesus over to Pilate was because of envy.
We can all be tempted with envy when we see others receive more attention and success than we do, especially when we feel like we deserve it.
At times, I believe God will test our devotion to Him by seeing how we react when He blesses others.
Envy is a symptom of lack of appreciation of our own uniqueness and self worth.
People will always hate most what they envy the most.
How can we succeed where others have failed?
1. Be a person with Convictions
2. Never stop believing
3. Never be guilty of Envy.
