You Can Do It!

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.” Numbers 13:30

After seeing the giants in the Promised Land, ten of Israel’s twelve spies came back and said, ‘It can’t be done.’ But the other two, Joshua and Caleb, said, ‘It can.’ But because of Israel’s unbelief, Caleb had been forced to spend forty more years wandering through the wilderness. And by the time the Israelites crossed the Jordan River he was eighty years old. Then another five years passed before the various tribes of Israel were assigned land to occupy. Here’s how Caleb described it all, years later: ‘I was forty years old when Moses…sent me…to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly’ (Joshua 14:7-8). If you’ve a negative attitude when you’re forty, there’s a good chance you’ll have one when you’re eighty-five. Actually, there’s a good chance you won’t even make it to eighty-five! Psychologist Martin Seligman studied several hundred people in a religious community; he divided them into quartiles, ranging from the most to the least optimistic. Ninety per cent of the optimists were alive at eighty-five, while just 34 per cent of the naysayers made it to the same age. Twelve spies went out, but only Joshua and Caleb had the faith to say, ‘We can do it.’ And forty-five years later Caleb was as feisty as ever! Want to guess what happened to the other ten spies? They died. None of them made it to Caleb’s age. It’s as simple as this: faith and optimism can add years to your life.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, keep me optimistic about my future – knowing the end result is eternity with You. It just doesn’t get better! In Jesus’ Name, Amen