What Are You Seeing?

Numbers 13:30 

“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Sometimes I reach back into my childhood and remember that kid. You know, that kid who always was a daredevil or the one who would do only what the rest of us would talk about. As an adult, I still wonder what kind of moxie was running through that kid’s body that made him think differently than all the rest of us.

Caleb came from the tribe of Judah. He was handpicked, as were the other 11, by Moses to go and scout out the new land. Most of us just focus on what Caleb does in verse 30: he silenced the people. Caleb also saw everything the other 11 saw.

In math class, have you ever leaned over and asked your neighbor what they got as the answer, and it was completely different from the one you got? The next thing out of your mouth in confusion is, “How did you get that?” You guys started with the same math problem and ended up in very different places.

The lyrics to the old church hymn “Victory in Jesus” are below. Lee Strobel says in his book Case for a Creator that believing we came from the amino acid soup is like putting a typewriter and paper in a room, walking out, closing the door, and coming back in a week later to find a copy of War and Peace on the table. It simply won’t happen. God is in the middle, and He is our Creator.

I believe Caleb saw the same issues of life projected in front of the group, but he was the only one who saw life through God’s eyes and the victory we have in Him. A little shepherd boy had the same outlook on life; his name was David. Read the lyrics to the song below. Your victory does not come by letting your circumstances define your report. You should believe the report of the Lord and let Him deal with your circumstances.

Victory in Jesus

I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory (how He gave His life)
How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me
I heard about His groaning, (of His blood’s atoning) of His precious blood’s atoning
Then I repented (repented) of my sins (repented of my sins) and won the victory
Oh victory in Jesus (victory in Jesus), my Savior (my Savior) forever (forever)
He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming blood (bought me with His blood)
He loved me ‘ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood
I heard about His healing, of His cleansing power revealing
How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see
And then I cried, “
Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit”
I then obeyed His blest command and gained the victory
The flood…
I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory
And I heard about the street of gold beyond the crystal sea (beyond the crystal sea)
About the angels singing (the angels are singing) and the old redemption story
Oh and some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood
I’ve got a victory in Jesus
You’ve got a victory in Jesus