Most people know the story in the bible about Moses leading
the Hebrew people out of Egypt from slavery through the Red Sea where the
waters were miraculously parted by the hand of God. It was an event celebrated to this day by a
nation and Christian culture. What so
many don’t know is the importance of the events that took place after. Moses led the people out of bondage knowing
that God had given them a promise to be free in a plush and fruitful land, the
land flowing with milk and honey. The
question of entering the Promiseland wasn’t a matter of how, or what or
where. God had already informed their
leader of the vital information they needed to obtain what God had already
promised them. It was a matter of when. As a mass group of people who had experienced
bondage, they began to witness some of history’s most memorable phenomenon’s. There mistake was their disbelief as a community.
There was one man, who came out of Egypt with the millions,
who heard the promise, who saw the fruit of the promise and who committed his
entire being to obtain what was promised to him. His name was Caleb. Caleb was one of the 12 spies sent to the land
of Canaan to spy out the land that God had promised them. Caleb and Joshua were the only two people out
of a mass of million who not only believed, but knew they would live in the
land flowing with milk and honey. When
they spied out the land they saw that it was just as God said it was. It was a plush and productive terrain. They saw exactly what the other 10 spies saw;
fruitfulness, riches, and giants. The
difference between these two and the other 10 was not just what THEY saw but, but
in what they HEARD. The 10 saw giants,
the two saw giant fruit. The 10 heard
discouragement, the 2 heard the promise.
All 12 reported to Moses and the people and the people heard the
10. They became discouraged and believed
a bad report and cried out in fear and discontent. They forgot the miracles of God when he
parted the Red Sea, when He rained down manna from Heaven, when He led them
under the cooling clouds by day and the warming fire by night.
But there was something inside Caleb that made him
great. (I thank God for great men and
women in history who have set the highest bar of example.) Caleb would NOT let
go of what was promised to him. NONE of
the Hebrew people asked for the Promiseland and all of the wonderful blessings
they received. They had only asked to be
free from bondage. God gave them what
they had asked for and so much more. But
only Caleb had the heart to receive it. While
Caleb was stuck with his people in the wilderness, he began to train for the
day he would obtain his promise. And 40
years later, after spying out the land that was promised to him, Caleb entered
into the land flowing with milk and honey.
As promised by God, Joshua and Caleb were the only two from the original
generation of slaves who entered into the promise.
I want to be like Caleb.
I was sitting outside this morning looking to the east and watching for
the sunrise. I began to think about the
fruit that Joshua and Caleb brought back from Canaan. The grapes were so massive, that they had to
hang the bunch on a branch and carry it back by two. Apparently, one grape alone could feed four.
Can you imagine such a thing? Can you imagine how history would have been
different if all 10 spies believed and hoped like Caleb? Life would have been
different.
So often we look back on our past and wonder what it would
have been like if we would had made the OTHER choice. Well duh!
Things would have been different.
I made so many choices that changed my life. Some good.
Some bad. Some good that turned
out to be bad. Some bad that turned out
to be good! Haven’t we all? But for as long as I could remember I had
dreams and desires that I never gave up on.
I just placed them in my future where I knew I would be getting to one
day. I had made some decisions in my
life that were worth altering my life for at the time and I am so glad that I
did.
But as I come to this point in my life, a point where I have
completed my training in the wilderness like Caleb, I see the Promiseland in my
horizon. I see a land flowing with milk
and honey. Sam Chand said, “To get to
the milk and honey, you have to go through the “stuff and sting!” Bees will sting and cows, besides making milk
also make, well… “stuff.” Sometimes you
get stung and step in stuff! I have had my fill of stings and stuff, and I am
ready for the milk and honey! I’d also
like to have some of those huge grapes too!
I’m well on my way to my personal Promiseland. I am so excited of my future that is at hand! If I ever faced “giants” or obstacles before,
it’s ok. I have defeated them before, I
will defeat them some more! I’m immune
to the “sting” and I learned how to walk around the “stuff!” I hope you will
join me in my adventures!
I would like to share with you my trials and errors, my joys
and sunshine, my heart and my soul. I
find myself repeating so many of my stories to so many people and I realized;
after being inspired by one of my favorite “swordsmen” who when he speaks, it’s
as if honey drips from his lips; that I must buckle down and write! Just to
give you an idea of what to expect in my future writings, you’ll often find
that I am very candid, always transparent, and brave to speak the truth. You will find that I often speak of faith, the
bible and God. Please know that this is
no way intended to push my faith on anyone, but I do ask that you understand
that my faith is the center of life. I don’t
have a need to constantly try and convince people about my faith, nor do I constantly
try to deny it. I simply live life day
by day confident in who I am and what I believe. Sometimes it looks spectacular and sometimes
it looks like hell. The bottom line is,
we’re in this life together and I for one love it and I love you!
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
