Nay! Nay!

"Twelve men went to spy on Canaan,
Ten were bad and two were good..."

So, starts a favorite, childhood, Sunday-school song. I'm amazed by the biblical account of these twelve men and their trust or lack of trust in God.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the story, the Israelites had escaped from Egypt and were headed for the promised land. They got close to it and sent in twelve men to scope it out. The men came back to give a report and ten of the twelve back saying that it would be impossible to do, there were giants in the land and lots of them. There were two, Caleb and Joshua, that knew the land could be taken and believed that God's promises are true. The ten nay-sayers spread their negativity around the camp and ultimately swayed everyone to their negative way of thinking, more importantly their God-less way of thinking. Because of the ten, the whole community of Israel was cursed to roaming around in the desert for forty years and every one of them that complained against God and did not believe his promise, would die in the desert and not see the promised land.

I think about this account according to my perspective and faith today. God has made some great promises to us pertaining to forgiveness of sin, eternal life, His presence and power within us...and yet, there are many days I'm choosing to complain about life and really living my life without paying heed to those promises. I notice that when I choose to ignore those promises, my life feels like a desert walk: lonely, dry, lacking passion.

I think about the role that the nay-sayers have and how I sometimes allow them to shape my attitude and thoughts.

I admire Caleb and Joshua for their faith and trust in a God who has been nothing but trustworthy and faithful. I desire their boldness in declaring that faithfulness of God and being willing to stand up for those things that I know God wants to accomplish. I love that they saw the giants in the land and were not dissuaded, but knew the strength and might of the God they serve.

God, I ask for vision to see where you are leading, for boldness to stand up in the midst of nay-sayers and proclaim your plan, and for faith to trust in your plan completely.