We Are Well Able

We Are Well Able

Twelve spies went into Canaan and saw the same land. Ten came back saying: 'We are like grasshoppers in their sight.' Two came back saying: 'We can certainly do it.' Same land. Same giants. Radically different reports. The difference was not intelligence or courage — it was what they placed at the center of their calculation. The ten calculated from the giants; Caleb calculated from God. Joshua and Caleb were the only two of their generation to enter the promised land. Forty years later, at eighty-five years old, Caleb asked for the region with the giants. 'Give me this mountain,' he said. His faith had not aged.

The spies' report is a masterclass in the difference between faith-based and fear-based assessment. Both reports were factually accurate: there were giants, the cities were fortified, the people were strong. Caleb didn't dispute the facts. He disputed the calculation. The grasshopper-feeling came from looking at the giants through human eyes. The confidence came from looking at the giants through the lens of God's promise. Faith does not deny difficulty — it refuses to let difficulty be the governing factor. The same giants that terrorized the ten were no obstacle for Caleb because Caleb's God was larger than any giant. What situation are you viewing from the grasshopper position? What would change if you assessed it from Caleb's vantage point?