A Role Model for Fighting Giants

“But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Numbers 14:24.

What better role model can you ask for than Caleb. He was a warrior for God. We first see Caleb as a young man of forty. He is chosen to be sent as one of the spies into the Promised Land. Returning, he goes against conventional wisdom, arguing to move into the promised land. He’s ready to fight the giants. We all know the story, Israel is disobedient and only Caleb and Joshua will get to enter the Promised Land. God promises Caleb the land on which he walked.

So what does Caleb do now? He perseveres. He wanders the wilderness watching his generation die off, watches the continued disobedience of Israel, shaking his head, knowing- hey, we should already be there! Many Christians today don’t know what persevere means- can we pray and prepare for something, for four days or 4 weeks or 4 months- let alone 40 years! But God made Caleb a promise, and Caleb persevered.

Forty five years go by. It’s time to enter the Holy Land. Caleb, now 85 years old, is still as strong as when he was 40. Why? He continued to train and prepare. He knew he would have to stay ready, to be prepared when the time came. God had made him a promise- and he was still, 45 years later, ready to fight the giants! Joshua grants him the hill country he walked as the Lord promised, and he drives out the descendants of Anak.

Do we step out on faith, sometimes speaking out and defying current trends, like Caleb ? Do we persevere for what God has promised? Do we stay trained and prepared, always ready to fight giants?