Today’s Wednesday quote has been one of my favorites for years (I found this 12 or 13 years ago…love it!) I shared it very early in the life of the blog, so it didn’t get much traffic at all. It’s well worth the read – and consideration, so I’m reposting it now.
Here’s the original post.
I found this quote in a long-time favorite devotional book, His Victorious Indwelling. This is the reason Caleb is one of my favorite Biblical figures.
Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!“Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. “If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us–a land which flows with milk and honey. “Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey (literally, food). Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”
10But all the congregation said to stone them with stones Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
Numbers 14:1-10
“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.”
Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron and his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.”
Joshua 14:12-14
The whole question in relation to overcoming is: Are you trusting in yourself, or are you trusting in the Lord? If you are relying on yourself then of course you have to consider whether the Anakim are strong or weak, and whether their cities are well fortified or not; but if your reliance is on God, then the question of human resources does not even arise. If you are trusting in God there is no ground for fear since victory is assured to all who put their trust in Him.
There is another noteworthy matter in connection with Caleb. He exhorted the whole congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “Rebel not against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us.” He sought to show the children of Israel that in the land itself there were resources upon which they could draw in order to possess it. “The people of the land … are bread for us,” he declared. What is bread? Bread is something you eat. Bread is something that brings increased strength. The inhabitants of the land were admittedly “men of great stature,” but Caleb promised that they were food for God’s people. He not only not only honored God’s promises, he despised the difficulties that stood in the way of their realization…
Every time you meet a difficulty, every time you find yourself in an impossible situation, ask yourself this question: Am I going to starve here? Or am I going to eat the food that is set before me? If you are relying on the Lord for victory and let His overcoming life be manifested in you, you will find fresh nourishment and increased vitality in accepting as “bread” those Anakim that are contesting your progress. Do bear in mind that people who do not eat well cannot grow into maturity. Many people take the Word of God as their meat and doing His will as their meat, but they reject the Anakim as unpalatable food. The more we eat such food the stronger we shall become.
… Every difficulty and every temptation Satan puts in our way is food for us. This is a divinely appointed means of spiritual progress. The sight of any great trouble strikes terror into the heart of those who do not believe God, but those who trust Him say, “Praise God, here is some more food!” All our trials, without exception, are bread for us, and as we accept one trial after the other, we are more and more richly nourished and the result is a continuous increase of strength.
- Watchman Nee
May we all receive everything the Lord chooses to feed us as FOOD and be made strong!
