What kind of spy are you? – Part 1

The account of Joshua and Caleb, along with the 10 other spies, being sent by Moses to spy out the Promised Land (Numbers 13) is pretty well known. It’s one of the defining moments where the fear of 10 Israelites impacts an entire generation.Joshua and Caleb had faith and confidence that God would lead them to conquer those who occupied the land that He’d promised the children of Israel. The other 10? Well, let’s just say they were Debbie Downers, half-empty, Chicken Little… You get the point! Their fearful report back to Moses meant their entire nation would disobey God and, as a result, would continue to wander in the wilderness until a generation had died.

With that story in the rearview mirror, I was recently in Joshua chapter 2. Moses had died and that same Joshua, the can-do-attitude spy, is now in charge and sent some spies out on his behalf. This time, Jericho is the destination.Maybe it’s too much Netflix during COVID (🤷‍♀️), but the second set of spies caught my attention. This time, only two spies are sent. The first set of spies only speculated there would be trouble…. the “giants versus grasshopper” variety. This time, the two spies actually do have trouble. The king of Jericho hears of their arrival and is informed that Rahab, a prostitute, has taken them in. The king would’ve destroyed them if Rahab hadn’t lied on their behalf. She lies, hides them, and then sends them on their way after sending the king’s search crew in the opposite direction.These two spies actually had some legitimate reasons to be concerned. But here’s what they reported to Joshua upon their return…

“Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all of the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.”(Joshua 2:24)

These two spies could’ve come back shaking in their boots. What if Rahab changes her mind? What if she was a set up? What if she leaks the Israelites’ plans to attack Jericho? Instead they came back with confidence.What about us? We have the opportunity to look ahead at the remainder of 2020 either with the perspective of the first 10 spies or of the latter 2 spies. We can choose fear or faith. We can choose concern or confidence.

There are so many uncertainties right now, but the one thing that’s certain is our God. I want to challenge you to choose to be confident. Not in yourself, but in your God. I want to implore you to choose faith instead of fear.Whatever you face, speak the words of power over your circumstances like Caleb did…

“Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”(Numbers 13:30)

… and check out the Part 2 post for a way to help keep a God-can-do attitude!