A Caleb-like Spirit

UV 701/10,000 Cultivate a Caleb-like Spirit “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit, and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.” Numbers 14 v 24 Caleb followed the Lord God of Israel fully. The uni-verse testifies that he had a different spirit- a spirit that pleased God. He had the spirit of courage, generousity, faith in God, an uncompromising spirit, a spirit of nobility and visionary leadership. While the other ten spies were deterred by the size of their enemies and saw giants, Caleb too perceived their size but thought they were as small as ants before Jehovah El Shaddai, Almighty God. He was not basing his conviction on myths but on their collective experience and witness of God ‘s power in delivering them from the bondage of mighty Egypt of the day. Freedom struggles of other nations were led by men but the freedom struggle of Israel was led by God Himself. Caleb had the spirit of excellence, an attitude that with the “God of exceeding expectations” on their side, nothing was impossible, no odds were too great, no foe too big, no obstacle insurmountable. The other ten spies sent by Moses saw themselves as grasshoppers before the giants of Canaan. Their God faith and their self belief were found wanting by God. Today, many people teach about the power of self belief. But, self belief to have solid foundations must be based on complete faith in God. As Caleb fully obeyed God, he along with Joshua were given the singular blessing to enter the land promised to them. Those blessings were inherited later by his descendants. Similarly, when we wholeheartedly obey the Lord, we are opening channels of blessing for succeeding generations. The word ‘wholeheartedly’ implies an attitude without fear, doubt, hesitation and with willingness to take risks, to take the lead and to be adventurous for God. Every wholesome attitude has a positive component and a ‘negative negative component.’ For example, a calm attitude involves a positive component of being cool and a negative negative component of beating tension, anger, fear and stress. Courage has a positive component of being brave and mustering all our inner resources and reserves as well as a negative negative component of overcoming fear. Success has a positive component of achieving one’s targets and a negative negative component of overcoming huge obstacles, constraints, difficulties and circumstances. More than the external battle in the battlefield of reality, the Lord is watching our inner battle of the struggle between the positive and the negatives within us. It was not as if Caleb was living in denial of the challenge the Israelites were going to face in battling the giant Anakim. It was not as if he did not experience the beginnings of fear and hesitation. But, he overcame these fears by not feeding them with his thoughts and words and by affirming his faith in the power and might of God.