A Different Spirit

But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.
Numbers 14:24

Question: what is the relationship between choices and circumstances?

Should our circumstances dictate our choices? Or should our choices dictate our circumstances?

In the book of Numbers we are told about twelve spies who entered the land promised to Israel. Two of the spies went in with their minds already made up about who the land would belong to and ten of the spies were not so sure.

Joshua and Caleb had decided the promised land would fall into the hands of Israel. The other spies claimed the military power of the occupants would never allow them to take the land -that they had no choice but to leave.

Joshua and Caleb did not let their eyes make their decisions for them. Instead, they controlled their eyes to look for ways to seize the land. The ten spies allowed their eyes to make their decisions for them, and they never entered the promised land.

So we return to the question: should our surroundings make our decisions, or should our decisions make our surroundings?

The Bible has a firm and unwavering answer to this question: our choices should determine our actions. With faith all things are possible.

Caleb was a man who was set apart because his choice about entering the land was one thing. His plan was simple: enter the land, conquer it, drink the milk, and eat the honey. The plan of the ten spies was more complex: they liked the fruit of the land, but they did not believe it could be theirs.

And God called Caleb a man with a "different spirit" because Caleb followed the Lord "fully".

The hearts of the ten men were not different. They did not follow the Lord fully. They wanted to notice the rewards of the land as gifts promised by God, but they did not want act in a way so as to have these rewards.

Despite all the battles that took place, the largest battles -the battles with the biggest outcomes- were the battles that took place in their hearts of the Israelites.

Consider your own life. Do you want your heart to fully belong to the Lord? Do you want to taste the good things the Lord has promised His children? Do you have the faith to believe He is ready to give these things to you? Do you have the faith to confront the obstacles you see before you?

Consider your choices carefully. Make sure you examine all your ways, because the pagans in the land had an appearance of happiness before they were destroyed by the host of Israel. The doubting spies, on the other hand, died in the wilderness. In the same way it is better to be frozen cold than to be luke warm.

If the answer on your lips, if the desire of your heart, if your hunger and thirst is to fully obey the Lord, then obey Him fully and do not doubt. The milk was refreshing, and the honey tasted sweet, but the ingredient that made their victory so delicious was there before Joshua and Caleb set foot on the battlefield.

In the same way, do not let the circumstances of this world make your choices for you.