Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:32

In the book of Numbers, chapter 13, we read the story of the twelve spies going in to check out the land of Canaan. When those twelve men gave their reports about what they had seen in the land, ten of them just told the basic facts and left God out of the picture. But Joshua and Caleb knew how God looked at the situation, and they included that in their report.

We aren’t facing giants and walled cities today, but we do have a lot of other obstacles in our lives. They can be issues at church, problems in our families, or even personal strongholds that we have battled for a long time. Too often, it’s easy to be like the ten spies — we look at the circumstances in light of our own personal resources without including God, and so we decide they are impossible to overcome. Looking at difficulties this way is not only dangerous for ourselves, but it may also be very discouraging for other believers who, perhaps, are looking to us for spiritual strength, just like the Israelites got discouraged.

We need to take a different view of life. We should look at our difficulties like Joshua and Caleb did, with confidence in God. We don’t ignore what’s going on in our life, but we look for God to work in and through us to accomplish His purposes. We’ll then find that we’re free from the pressure to fix everything in our own power and to have to do it right now. It’s true that we may not see and end, but we can be confident in the fact the God will walk beside us and lend us His power when we need it. When we experience this freedom, we’ll want to share it with our fellow believers so they, too, can feel a new hope and strength by not just looking at the facts, but by including God’s power in the equation.

Joshua and Caleb crossed the Jordan and took part in conquering Canaan because of their faith in God’s power. Once we see God’s available power, we too can move ahead and face our difficulties with faith in God.