April 24, 2015

“But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Numbers 14:24

This week I have highlighted some of the ways Caleb was different from the other ten spies and the differences are stark.

One of the principles I was to pull from this story is this: If you want a different outcome you will need a different outlook!

Caleb clearly had a different outlook than the others spies ten spies (Joshua not included). He brought a realistic but optimistic report to rebut the negative discouraging report brought by the ten.

Obviously they all saw the same things but they saw them with different outlooks.

Caleb saw the grapes. They were huge and juicy and tasty! He imagined feasting on them the rest of his life once they conquered their promised land.

The other spies saw the grapes, too! They tasted them. They cut down a bunch of ripe juicy grapes to carry back to Moses. But despite the evidence they bore, their attitude was sour grapes!

Why?

Although the desired the grapes they also saw the giants. The big, bad, burly giants were the ancestors of Goliath and the descendants of Anak. As much as they wanted the grapes they wanted nothing to do with the giants! So the fear of the giants became their focus.

Caleb saw the giants, too. But he wasn’t about to let them keep him from the grapes! While the other spies saw the giants as big threats Caleb saw them as big targets!

Caleb remembered that God had promised this land to them! So those were their grapes! In fact, it tells us in Joshua 14, when the Israelites finally did cross over and conquer Canaan, the land that Caleb chose was Hebron, the territory of the giants!

So, there were grapes and there were giants. Caleb saw them and the spies saw them, but Caleb has a different spirit! His outlook was fueled by faith while theirs was fueled by fear.

Here’s the heart of the difference! When the spies saw the giants they saw themselves as grasshoppers. But when Caleb saw the giants he saw God!

Grapes, giants, and grasshoppers cause the other spies to grumble to the people.

But the grapes and the giants from the perspective of Godly faith stirred Caleb’s spirit within him! He was fired up and ready to go get himself some giants!

There are grapes in your life and there are also giants! Your outlook with determine whether you feast on the grapes or fear the giants. If you want a different outcome you will need a different outlook!

At FredWes this year your Leadership Team and your Trustees have diligently been spying for a new promised land. They have found some grapes but there are also some giants. They will soon be presenting their report. When they tell you about the grapes you will get excited. But then you will hear about the giants. That will test your outlook! Will you be overcome by the grasshopper outlook?

Or will you have a different spirit like Caleb who saw God beyond the giants?

In every group there are Calebs and there are spies.

Ultimately, like God’s people, FredWes’ outcome will be determined by our outlook.

God, let me be a Caleb!