I’ve been studying the first books of the Bible and have just finished the book of Joshua. The prominent player in the book is, of course, Joshua. Joshua was one of the 12 spies who went into the land of Canaan to see if it was truly as good as they had heard and to find out how strong the people were. Ten of the spies came back and reported that the land was really flowing with milk and honey, but the people were huge and strong and the Israelites had no chance of taking the land. Only Joshua and Caleb came back with the report that, yes, the land was flowing with milk and honey, yes, the people were strong, but with God’s help the Israelites could take them down easily. Who did the people believe? They believed the negative and moaned and whined and complained…why did you bring us out here only to die? We would have been better to stay in Egypt under the cruel hand of Pharoah. Because of the Israelites unbelief they were sentenced to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness until that entire generation of whiners and complainers had died off. Only the younger generation would be allowed into the Promised Land.

How often are we quick to believe the worst? To believe the negative? To believe that we don’t have a chance? It seems like the ones who are preaching doom and gloom have an easy time of it. It’s the ones who are trying to convince people that we have a chance, that God is still on His throne and is sovereign, the other guys are the ones that have their work cut out for them. It seems as if it’s harder to convince people to believe in the power of God than it is to get people to give up and to moan and groan. I want to be known as a person who believes the positive, who believes in the power of God, and who is ready to move forward through His strength.