Background Story: God delivered the Israelites from Egypt after they had prayed to God for 430 years. Now the Israelites are standing outside the promised land deciding what to do next.

Read Numbers 13:1-3, 26-30

The Lord said to Moses, ² “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” ³ So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? ²⁰ How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

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.”

Big Idea: Lift your eyes from your problems to your deliverer.

God delivered the Israelites from Egypt using amazing signs and wonders. He turned the water to blood, brought frogs, lice, flies, sores, huge hail, locusts, darkness, and the angel of death. And all that was before they even left Egypt. Then there was the literal parting of the Red Sea, the wall of fire, water coming out a rock, bread falling heaven, and the list just keeps going. All of these miracles and wonders happened so that the Israelites could leave Egypt and enter the land that God promised.

But when the Israelites finally arrived at the border of the promise land, they sent spies in to check it out first who came back with conflicting reports. Caleb and Joshua said they should take the land but the rest of them said no. The enemy was just too big and the task in front them seemed hopeless.

So that night, the Israelites assembled together and they, “raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:1-4)

Go back to Egypt? Go back to slavery instead of entering the land God promised? Before we judge them, this is something we’ve all struggled with. We stand looking at a problem that seems so big and hopeless and start shaking in fear. Although we have been delivered from the slavery of sin through Christ and have seen the amazing miracle of salvation in our own life, we can still doubt God’s faithfulness in the circumstance right before us. Our fears, like the Israelites, can even tempt us to return to the bondage of past sin or addictions.

When life’s giants stand before us, we must lift our eyes from the problem to our Provider repeating Joshua’s words, “the Lord is with us.” It is the Lord who delivered us before and it’s the Lord that can do it again! God does not act faithfully… God is faithful! It is His character and His very nature. Listen to today’s song and praise Him that His promises are always true and His faithfulness never ends. He did not leave you before… and He will not now!

Takeaway Verse:

Song for Today:

Looking For More?

Similar Devotions: This is How I Fight My Battles, A Memorial, Becoming Mature, God With Us, Eyes Opened, Because You Say So