Israel could have avoided 40 years of wandering had they believed God when they first got to the Jordon River. 12 Israelite spies had spent 40 days going through the Promised Land to see what it was like. God wanted them to see what He had promised them, what belonged to them because of that promise. Their confidence in taking the land was never to be based on their assessment of their abilities or resources, but simply on what God had said. Their confidence was to be solely grounded in God, Himself.

God had shown Himself faithful to provide for them at every turn. He had shown them that He would keep them and cause them to inherit what He had promised. It was always about what God had done and what God will do. All they had to do was to believe Him and follow.

The land flowed with milk and honey. That signified the peace and prosperity of the Land, but there were giants in the Land. The cities were large and fortified and the people living there were described as “powerful”. 10 of the scouts stated, “Next to them, we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they (the people in the Land) thought, too!” Actually, that was a satanic lie. Satan didn’t want God’s people to receive what God had promised so he had the 10 spies focus on themselves rather than God.

Isn’t that the way of it? When God gives a vision and puts a call on your life, the enemy always comes whispering, “You can’t do that! What God is asking is way beyond your resources, your experience and your abilities!” Truth is, all that is actually true. The will of God, the call of God will always be bigger than you are in every way. The good news is that God’s will is only accomplished by God’s power. So when you hear His call, your confidence is NEVER to be in what YOU can do, but solely in what HE can and will do.

There were two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb, who believed God. (Numbers 14:6-9) “Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”

40 years later, after the unbelieving generation had died off…all except Joshua, Caleb, Joshua sent out two spies into Jericho. (Joshua 2:8-11) “Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. “I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.”

The people living in the Land God had promised to Abraham & his descendant DIDN’T see the Israelites as “grasshoppers” ready to be squashed. They had lived in terror of the Israelites and their God for 40 years. 40 years before, the 10 spies had believed what they saw rather than rely on what God had said.

Where God guides, He provides. When God calls, don’t let what seems like an impossibility stop you from following. Nothing is impossible for God to accomplish in you according to His Word.