Irrelevant Details

Irrelevant Details

Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” Numbers 13:30

GOD HAD TOLD MOSES to send spies into the Promised Land to scout it out. So Moses gave twelve men specific instructions, which included gathering information but nothing about trying to assess whether entering the land was doable. Nevertheless, all but two came back with a negative report, spreading fear about how the people in the land were big and hostile and the towns were fortified. Sure, the land was fruitful and pleasant, but what good would that be if it couldn’t be conquered? The ten discouraging spies had forgotten that the Promised Land had already been promised to them. They lost sight of their assignment and instead questioned God’s ability to fulfill his words. After all they had seen in the Exodus, they still didn’t get it. They became the prime example of what not to do and how not to respond to a promise from God.

Two men, Caleb and Joshua, had a different spirit. They didn’t doubt God’s willingness, since he had given the promise in the first place, and they didn’t question his ability to do what he had said. God was both willing and able, and that was enough. It didn’t matter how big the people were, how strong the city walls were, or how contentious some of their past run-ins with these people had been. When God gives a promise, none of the details matter to the heart of faith. The mind has no business questioning what God has said he is going to do. The responsibility is on him to carry it out, and a follower’s responsibility is simply to believe and follow.

We forget that sometimes. The words of the serpent in Eden echo in our minds: “Did God really say . . . ?” (Genesis 3:1). Sometimes we convince ourselves he didn’t. Sometimes we still believe he did but convince ourselves that there are extenuating circumstances, details that make the promise untrue, things perhaps God hadn’t accounted for. That was the perspective of the ten skeptical spies, and we must refuse it. When God promises something, it’s a promise. Believe it, live it, and move forward—no matter what you see in the land ahead.

The ultimate ground of faith and knowledge is confidence in God.