Keep looking up
A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea... “Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.” So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land. Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.
Joshua 14:6-15 NLT
Caleb was with Joshua when they were sent out to spy some forty years earlier the land of Canaan. Just like Joshua, he trusted God that they would be able to defeat the inhabitants of the Promise Land. But the Israelites then listened to the reports of the other ten spies (see Numbers 13). Now eighty-five, Caleb asked Joshua to give him a mountain that had strong and powerful armies and fortified cities! Caleb’s confidence that he would be able to conquer this land was based on God’s promise ever since he and Joshua spied out the land. So, when Caleb requested the location of his portion of inheritance, he reminded his friend Joshua of the promise Moses had made to them forty-five years before, “But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land” (Numbers 14:24). He believed then that he and Joshua would survive the years of wandering and receive their inheritance in the land. This promise of God is what Joshua and Caleb gave joy and courage as they endured years of wandering and waiting. When we cannot see what is ahead of us, let us trust God’s leading and be encouraged in our pilgrim journey. We have already received our inheritance in Christ when we surrendered our lives to Him as Lord and Savior and so let us claim “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3, NKJV) that He promised to us. Since we have a glorious inheritance before us (see 1 Peter 1:3–6), let us keep looking up and realize that the best is yet to come!
Blessings,
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