Have you ever suffered because of someone else mistakes?
• And you’ve wasted time, efforts, or even money, all because someone did not do it right.
• You suffered because of another person’s mistakes.
You feel that you have been treated unfairly.
• But frankly, life is unfair. No one is immune from sufferings.
• Think for a moment, the Bible did not say life will be fair to us.
• We do go through pain, and that’s no fault of ours.
We are going to look at a person that has such an experience.
• And learn to keep on going despite the unfair blows that life deals to us.
• When we think about the great men of the OT, few will think of him.
• But this man trusted God all his life, and God blessed him.
God has given the nation of Israel a gift – a piece of land.
• A group of them saw the land, but few shared this man’s optimism. (Num 13)
• There were obstacles to be overcome; big obstacles.
• They all saw the same piece of land, but most did not agree with this man.
They should have fight and go straight in, he said. But they chose not to.
• Why was his view so different? He has faith in God.
• That makes all the difference. In fact, that’s the only difference.
Most of us see similar situations today, but not all share the same view.
• Between a person who is afraid, and the one who is confident, is the placement of our faith. Where did you put your faith?
The majority had faith in the power of men.
• They saw huge walls and giant soldiers, while they were just “grasshoppers”.
This man had faith in the power of God.
• To Him, God was greater than the biggest problem.
• He did not lie about what he saw.
• He did not minimize the problems; he just magnified God.
• He held on to his conviction. The majority is not always right.
But sadly, in this world, we go by the majority.
• To cut the story short, the nation of Israel made a U-turn back into the desert.
• And they made circles in the wilderness for the next 40 years.
Here is a lesson for us:
When you do it God’s way, He’ll lead you through a straight path.
Each time when I seek Him first, I end up completing my tasks in quicker time.
• There were occasions when I read and read, and try by my own efforts, to come up with something to preach, and nothing comes up.
• When I stop doing all these and start by praying and seeking Him, thoughts come to me and the words just flow.
Seek God, and you’ll take the fastest route to success.
When you are doing your projects, and you’ve limited time, pray!
• Ask God for wisdom. He will guide you to the information you need and you can end up completing the project in quicker time!
• You’ll be surprised, to see God guiding you to the resources you need and save you lots of time. He knows everything you need to know for your project.
Well, that was 40 years ago.
• They’ve finally crossed the line and stood in the land God promised them.
• You can’t run away from what God has planned.
• You’ll make circles and then end up where He wants you to be.
• You might as well believe Him in the first place, and avoid the unnecessary pain and disciplining.
Now they are all ready to divide the land among themselves. And this man spoke up. Let’s read Joshua 14:6-15.
By now, you should know that this man I’m talking about is Caleb.
• He is now 85 years old. He has never given up on claiming God’s promise.
• 14:12 “Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day.”
• It wasn’t an easy thing – the mountain was inhabited by a race of giants who lived in huge, fortified cities.
• It really doesn’t bother him; he held on to what God has said and believed that God is going to give it to him and his family for generations to come.
Because of the unbelief of the ten spies and the rest of Israel, Caleb had to wander in the desert for 40 years, when he could have been enjoying his inheritance.
• But Caleb did not give up just because the majority was wrong.
• He continued to trust God, knowing that one day he would claim his inheritance.
The author wanted this to be known, and repeated a phrase several times:
• “Followed the Lord, my God wholeheartedly” (v.8, 9, 14)
• He had remained faithful to God, despite the difficult journey he has taken.
• He kept his faith in God and God blessed him eventually, at least in 2 ways:
(1) His health and strength remains intact, and
(2) His family finally inherited the promised land.
(Only 2 persons from the first generation stepped into the promised land, and he’s one of them!)
Verse 11 “I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to batter now as I was then.”
• God kept him in a miraculous way.
• In the eyes of man he lost 45 years of his prime, but not so with God. God kept him.
Perhaps you are suffering because of another’s mistakes or sins.
• Look at Caleb and learn the importance of trusting God in spite of what others do.
• Like Caleb, we can afford to wait, knowing that one day God is going to honour our faith and give us our inheritance.
Caleb himself knew that it was God who had kept him alive the past 45 years.
• And it wasn’t easy 45 years – 38 years of wandering in the desert, and 7 years devoted to conquering the land of Canaan.
• God did not let him lose his prime – God kept it intact!
We may not really understand all the difficult paths we are going through today.
• Understand this, God will never defraud or cheat you.
• God will not short-change us.
• He blesses us for the sacrifices we make. We can never out-give God.
• God will reward us for our faithfulness, just as He rewarded Caleb.
Look at the Scriptures:
• Look at Job. Job 42:12 “The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.” Twice as much. He lived another 140 years, according to Jewish tradition, twice that of his age before the calamity.
• In captivity after the Babylonian invasion of Judah. Joel 2:25-26, God says “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten - the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm - my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.”
• Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap...”
Caleb has a strong desire to get what God promised him.
• It really doesn’t matter if “the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified” (v.12)
• He believed God will help him get it. Those who really hunger and thirst for God’s blessing will be filled.
Contrast this to the other tribes. See Joshua 18:1-3,8.
• Caleb came to Joshua and asked for the inheritance to be allotted.
• The others did nothing, until Joshua got them to get moving.
• Caleb expected the promise to be fulfilled, and the other 7 tribes were indifferent about their inheritance.
• Evidently, they didn’t care if they ever received their inheritance. They were exhausted after the 7 years conquest of Canaan, and apparently they were content to continue their nomadic lifestyle.
Caleb could have lamented over 40 years of wasted wandering and complained, but he did not.
• He was always looking forward to the promise God had given him.
• He may have been physically walking in the wilderness, but his heart was in the promised land.
• Not only did he enjoy the hill country, his children and grandchildren got to enjoy it in the years to come.
• The decisions we make in life affect more than just you. Many others can be blessed because of you.
It is important to have an optimistic, hopeful attitude in life, because our God reigns.
• Don’t focus on the misfortunes.
• Caleb faced the challenges honestly and with faith in God.
• We expected Caleb, now 85 years old, to have crossed his prime and ready to go downhill.
• Yet he was all ready to fight and claim God’s promise.
Today, we are as blessed as we want it to be. It is for you to claim God’s promises.
• If you want it, you’ll be blessed. If not, you can maintain your status quo.
• We can remain passive and say, “Well, if God want to bless me, that’ll be nice” or you pray and seek it.
• The Bible says, seek, knock and ask, and it shall be given.
Josh 14:14 “So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.”
• We too can expect an inheritance of spiritual possessions if we put our faith in God and follow Him fully.
• Would you make a commitment to be faithful to God?
1. Don’t focus on your misfortunes and sufferings, keeping on trusting God. (You may feel unfairly treated, or being the minority; trust God.)
2. Follow the Lord wholeheartedly and you will be rewarded.(God will repay you for lost time or the sacrifices you’ve made.)
3. Be strong in the Lord, because this will bring blessings to others.
