Joshua Chapter 14: Verses 7-12
“I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’
“Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
God always keeps His promises, but the timing of their fulfilment is entirely up to Him, so we may have to wait. Caleb had to wait forty-five years! But in all that time he never forgot God’s promises and continued to follow God wholeheartedly while he was waiting. It would have been easy for him to despair of seeing the promise fulfilled. After all, the delay wasn’t caused by anything he had done, but when the time came, he was still willing to fight for it, even in his old age.
How patient are we? And are we always in readiness to do God’s will and see the fulfilment of His promises to us? Age and ability are not an excuse to take a back seat. Caleb tells Joshua that God had given him the health and strength needed to do what God required of him. Will He not also do the same for us? That’s encouraging for me as I rapidly approach the beginning of my sixth decade!
Dear Lord,
Thank You for the example of Caleb’s faithful trust in You over many years. Help me to follow his example I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.