Some people have the gift of encouragement. That is, some people have the gift of being able to inspire courage in others. Isn’t this the most beautiful gift? We live in a world teeming with discouragement. Everywhere we look we see another opportunity to despair, give up, quit. And yet, God has graciously peppered our earth with those precious gems, those people who speak words of life, hope, beauty, truth. Those people who encourage our souls.
Caleb and Joshua were such men. After wandering for 40+ years in a wilderness, God is about to bring his nation of Israel into the promised land, the beautiful fulfillment of His promise–the good land, flowing with milk and honey! They were so close! They’d made it. Now was the time! Woohoo! So the people send spies into the land to scope out the scene. Twelve men were sent.
Ten brought back discouragement.
Two brought back encouragement.
Those ratios are pretty consistent to our world, would you agree? For every two encouragers we meet about ten discouragers. Good thing the encouragers are so powerful!
But what was their message? A few things to note:
- The ten discouragers were not dishonest, they told the truth.
They simply reported what they saw:
“We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in this land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan” (Numb. 13:27-29)
All of this is fact. It did have milk and honey. The people in the land were strong. They were the descendants of Anak (a mighty people). They were very accurate in reporting the facts.
Just like the most discouraging people in our lives.
Isn’t that the case? Don’t you love those people who seem to delight in reporting negative facts, asking negatively leading questions, and highlighting the most negative aspects of everything. Nothing is false, just discouraging. That was the problem with the ten spies. Nothing false about it, but they did not see with eyes of faith.
Eyes of faith encourage others. Why?
Because eyes of faith can see the unseen.
Caleb and Joshua saw with eyes of faith. They saw the same land, the same Hittites, the same Jebusites, the same descendents of Anak. He saw who they were.
But they saw them all in relation to who God is. And they saw the unseen.
In Numbers 14 we see this. When the children of Israel are all afraid and unwilling to take the land, when they want to run and cower and fear, when they are dragged down in discouragement and want nothing to do with fulfilling the promises of God. Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes and this is what they said to all the congregation of the people of Israel,
“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into the land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.”
In other words, “Yes, there are giants. Yes there are obstacles. Yes there will be a fierce battle. But the land flows with milk and honey!”
In other words, It’s gonna be worth it.
Oh how we need these people today! People who can simply smile and say, “It’s gonna be worth it.” No matter what we face, the land of eternity for which we have been prepared–it’s gonna be worth it. And for those of us who have been given the gift of faith and called to be believers, it is our job to use this faith to speak encouragement to a hurting world.
It’s gonna be worth it.
Often that’s all we can say. Often there is no other reasoning or words of comfort. But we can rest assured that it’s gonna be worth it. I love the Rita Springer song that says this same thing. I pray you are blessed as you listen and watch. Because it is gonna be worth it.