Fighting for the new! Going forward, to go back, to go forward

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it must have been like for Joshua and Caleb to go back to the wilderness for 40 years because 10 of their companions did not have enough faith to fight for the new. They stepped foot into their inheritance and tasted it. Felt its atmosphere and could see the fruit, but then the two warriors had to wait because of the doubt of others.

I recently listened to a sermon about taking your promise land, and the pastor pointed out how these two mighty men held onto their vision, hope, and confidence for forty years; until an entirely new generation was born.

What grit it must have taken them to keep that fire burning while they waited on the other side of Jordan. They saw their promise before them but had to wait until a new generation rose—those who had not been jaded by slavery, corrupted by idol worship, and influenced with doubt.

I like to imagine that ol, Josh and Caleb took those four decades and used them as an opportunity to raise their children with the hope of the new land and evangelize and influence fresh hearts. Perhaps they mentored them, injecting confident trust and stirring up faith by the miraculous stories of the past to the next generation that wasn't bored or bitter by them. And when the time finally came, 80-year-old Josh and Caleb were running with their children and the next generation they had the privilege to influence.

God’s promises have no shelf life. Even if it we feel like we're too old, or delays seemed to have robbed us of our purpose. Those years are not wasted- if you still have breath, you still have hope.

If you’re surrounded by doubt or in a season of delay, STIR your faith. Keep talking about the promise. Keep encouraging those around you with your unrelenting hope. Exhaust the next generation with tangible hope and vice grip faith, because when that day comes for you to go back to the promise, you are bringing more than just yourself to seize it. You gathered an army in your waiting season and the walls are about to fall!

“But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land. Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.”

‭‭Numbers‬ ‭14‬:‭24‬, ‭38‬ ‭NLT‬‬