“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”” (Numbers 13:1-2, ESV)
If you remember the story, ten of the spies came back and reported negatively to the people of Israel stating that they would encounter tremendous opposition if they proceeded. This left Joshua and Caleb the only spies who were ready to trust the Lord to give them the land. Because of the report, the people rebelled and refused to trust the Lord to give them the victory, which resulted in that generation wandering and dying out in the wilderness.
The question is this. Why did the Lord tell them to send spies into the land in the first place? We see the answer in Deuteronomy 1:22. There we read that the people asked to send spies into the land and the Lord agreed. The Lord, in His sovereignty, did not acquiesce to the will of man, as some understand it. This permission to send the spies was part of God’s program for the nation and thus He sent them. This still leaves us with the question. Why send spies?
It seems that this sending out of the spies was part of the faith plan of the Lord for the nation. While the spies were to see the potential blessing of the land, they were also to see the magnitude of the opposition by the people of the land. By seeing the magnitude of the opposition, they would need to trust in the Lord alone to engage in the conquest. This is a test of faith. Yet, this was more than a mere test of faith. If the people would enter the land by faith knowing the magnitude of the opposition they would give the all the glory to the Lord when He granted them the victory.
In life we face big faith challenges ourselves. We may face the challenge to obey a call of God regarding our vocation in life. We may face challenges to overcome a habit. We may face a plethora of impossible situations that we must engage by faith. By seeing the magnitude of these challenges ahead of time, we too must make a decision to walk by faith, totally trusting the Lord in them. As we engage these challenges by faith, we have the great opportunity to experience the wonder of God’s grace in granting us the victory. This results in our giving the glory and honor to Him. Therefore, when you face these faith challenges fear not and trust the Lord. Realize that the Lord has permitted you to see the magnitude of the challenge so that you will trust Him and glorify Him alone.
Renewing the Heart 