Ten people said, “There is safety in numbers. Let’s stay with the pack and not take the risks before us.”
That faithless counsel given by the ten spies scouting the Promised Land is often still heard today echoing the lives of many on the vague journey God seems to passively lead them on. The ten spies or 84% of people still struggle with following God.
They never ask for His guidance in the direction for their lives, yet, He is to blame for all the consequences and hardships in their lives.
And they drift further away from the Good Shepherd. And there is resignation and growing despair until they loose their hearts entirely.
Yet, two came out of the ordeal rejuvenated and with great expectations. Joshua and Caleb were captured by a vision of the Lord on mission through their lives. They were an important ingredient in the events to come. Without understanding the WHY or HOW of the future, they preached HOPE and FAITH.
But the masses drowned them out, and swept on by… into forty years in the desert. The desert place dries a man out until he is so physically and spiritually parched, he will grasp at anything to fill him (cars, sex, clothes, money, games). Yet, finally he will drop as nothing nourishes the soul like water or hope.
Eighty percent of Americans report spending their days doing work that doesn't satisfy them. Their dreams are hazy, and the steps to get there aren't clear. So they continue on, unfulfilled, missing out on some of the greatest joys we human beings can ever experience.
Without any anticipation of bounty or blessing ahead, the soul has no heart to continue the journey.
God’s Spirit is on me;
He’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”
Luke 4 (msg)
This is the passage from Isaiah that Jesus gives as His mission statement for His time on Earth. Do you understand what he lived for? He didn’t come down to earth for the cross… He came for resurrection!
He came to give hope, a reason and meaning for being, to the poor. His grace covers the eternal consequences of our hard hearts and frees us from the bondage of self-service. Our weaknesses shall be compensated for in His glory and we shall relish them. We are free to be on mission with Him and know He is ready to act in our lives for the Kingdom.
We shall be transformed into new and beautiful creatures.
Of the swelling masses and twelve spies, only Joshua and Caleb got to know the freedom of running through the fields of the Promise Land.
by Scott Coombe
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