Persist: Take Risks for Your Dreams
Most of us think of risk as a negative situation we should avoid. But risk is part of life, and it’s a big part of faith. Not every risk is worth taking, but if you’re too overwhelmed by fear to correctly assess a situation, you’ll miss many opportunities for growth, increased strength, deeper faith, and success.
Have you been playing it safe? Too safe? If forward is the direction we choose, let us be prepared to take some faith-based risks. Being followers of Christ in today’s world is not safe. And it isn’t intended to be.
There’s a man in the Bible who inspires me to be persistent, keep stepping out and taking risks with wholehearted confidence in the Lord. I’m convinced you’ll be able to go forward—unafraid to take risks—if you can embody his spirit.
That man is Caleb. Do you know him? Many people don’t know a great deal about Caleb, because he only occupies 30 verses in the Bible. But what verses they are! What a man of faith!
Today, I want to show you how this Old Testament hero left a legacy of courage for you—a powerful example of persistence, risk-taking, future-grabbing grace.
In the book of Numbers, Moses sent twelve men—Joshua, Caleb, and ten others—as an advance party to do a reconnaissance mission to the promised land. These men left the safety of their encampment, crossed the Jordan River, and slipped into Canaan. The Bible tells the story this way:
The Reconnaissance
Numbers 13
(17) When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. (18) See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. (19) What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? (20) How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) (21) So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath.
Now, at the end of forty days, the spies returned from exploring the land with these reports.
The Report
Numbers 13
(27) They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. (28) But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. (29) The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
(30) Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
Now let’s jump to chapter 14 where Joshua and Caleb give their report.
(7) “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. (8) If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. (9) Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” (10) But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.
Notice the discrepancies in their reports.
A. The Ten Spies’ Report:
1. "It is a land that flows with milk and honey."
2. The cities are walled and very great.
3. The men are giants. We were like grasshoppers in our sight.
4. “We can’t attack them coz they are stronger.”
B. But Joshua and Caleb said:
1."It is a land that flows with milk and honey."
2. The cities are walled and very great.
3. The people are strong.
4. “We should attack them coz God is stronger!”
How is it that there is such a contrast in their reports & recommendations?
The ten spies came back so discouraged that they disheartened the people of Israel with their loser spirit. These ten men made three terrible mistakes. They fell into three traps you and I must avoid at all cost as we move forward this year. They wanted to stay in the safe zone.
How to Live Life in the Safe Zone
1. Magnify the Obstacles - v.31-33
(31) But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” (32) And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. (33) We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
The Ten Spies…
Looked at the land through their own eyes
Based their report on what’s practical
Saw Giants
Saw bad things coming
Were struck by their fear
The Two Spies…
Looked at the land through God’s eyes
Based their report on what’s promised
Saw God
See blessings coming
Were strengthened by their faith
See a big difference? They magnified their obstacles. They became chickens instead of eagles.
Listen, if we want to really move forward and win the prize God has reserved for us, then we have to learn what it means to take risks for God. God’s miracles don’t happen in the safety zone. We can’t see the hand of God if we always play safe.
Let’s not follow the attitude of the ten spies who played safe by magnifying their obstacles.
2. Minimize the Opportunities - 4:1-3
While the ten spies magnified their obstacles, they also minimize the glorious opportunities that lay before them. They only had a dim vision of what God had in store for them; they believed in their hearts that God was setting them up for destruction, and their unbelief was contagious.
(1) That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. (2) All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! (3) Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
How sad. After all the Lord had done for them? He delivered them from slavery! Parted the wide waters of the Red Sea! Accompanied them with cloud and fire! Gave them His Law! Provided food and drink in the wilderness! Promised to make them a great nation in a land flowing with milk and honey!
How could they so quickly forget? More importantly, how can we? When we forget all the blessings God has provided for us in the past, we’re apt to minimize His ability to guide us in the future. We may even dread the future and where we think God is leading us. If so, we’re exactly where the devil wants us: in a place of avoiding risks and playing it safe.
Oh, we of little faith. What I’m telling you is this: don’t minimize the opportunity. What is our greatest opportunity? God is with us! Amen? God is our glorious opportunity and all that God can do for us.
Don’t put all your efforts into avoiding loss or turn your face away from the future He has planned for you. Instead, go forward with confidence and courage to do the task He has set for you.
3. Mess up the Objectives - 13:1-2
In their unbelief, the Israelites discarded the precious, powerful future God intended for them. God’s objective was to explore and conquer the land because God gave it to them as He promised.
Numbers 13
(1) The LORD said to Moses, (2) “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
But their act of defiant unbelief incurred a terrible penalty. The punishment for bringing an evil report to the people of God was meted out in two severe sentences.
1. They were shut off from entering the promised land - 14:21-23
Numbers 14
(21) Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, (22) not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— (23) not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
2. They will suffer and die in the wilderness -v.32-34
(32) But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. (33) Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. (34) For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’
How very sad! The blessing God wanted to pour out upon His people was forfeited by their unwillingness to risk obedience to His command. What is your Canaan? What does God want you to tackle, to possess, to accomplish for Him? Unbelief forfeits your opportunities and jeopardizes your objective.
But there was something different about Caleb…
(14:24 NIV) 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.
(14:24 LB) But my servant Caleb is a different kind of man—he has obeyed me fully. I will bring him into the land he entered as a spy, and his descendants shall have their full share in it.
(14:24 NLT) But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.
Brethren, to move forward and reach our God-ordained dreams, we have to have a different spirit! We have to be a different man! We have to have a different attitude like Caleb!
How to Risk Life in the Faith Zone
Now decades passed and God’s pronouncement of punishment started to take effect. One by one the older generation started to pass away and their bodies dotted the desert. Even the aged Moses ascended to Mount Pisgah and died. Caleb and Joshua were the sole survivors of their generation to enter the promised land. Let’s see Caleb 45 years after.
Please turn your Bibles now to Joshua chapter 14.
(6) Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. (7) I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, (8) but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. (9) So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’
With the passing of the years, Caleb’s faith had grown. His mind was sharp, his spirit strong, and his enthusiasm like a child’s. The promise of God was still the obsession of his heart.
I believe there are four reasons for this, and they help us understand what is involved in living a life in the risk zone.
1. Stay Exuberant About Your Life
The first reason has to do with Caleb’s exuberance.
Exuberance = the quality of being full of energy, excitement, and cheerfulness; ebullience.
(10) Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! (11) I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.
Can you sense the exuberance that fueled Caleb’s life even at 85? He was as courageous as he was at 40! When we have that exuberant outlook in life because of our faith in God, age and abilities become background to achievement.
It’s hard to move forward without that kind of exuberant zest for life that Caleb had. We need that today as we traverse some challenges to life. Being exuberant about their life is what risk-takers have.
2. Stay Excited About Your Future
(12) Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
Notice that Caleb didn’t just visit his old friend Joshua to reminisce about the past. He was excited about his future. Can you imagine this 85-year-old veteran excited to claim God’s portion for him?
There’s something here I don’t want you to miss. This particular place called Hebron had been the ancestral home of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but now it was inhabited by this evil tribe of huge warriors known as the descendants of Anak. The sight of these warriors had terrified the ten unfaithful spies, who felt like grasshoppers compared to the enemy. This portion of the territory was still untaken by Israel, unpossessed, unclaimed. The giants had scared everyone away. Everyone except old Caleb, who said, in effect, “I want that hill country as my inheritance, and I’m ready to take care of those daunting supervillains. Let me at them!”
No matter your age or circumstances, no matter what hill you need to take, that kind of excitement for the future will carry you forward. Amen?
3. Stay Enthusiastic About Your Assignment
(15:13) In accordance with the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah—Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) (14) From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai, the sons of Anak. (15) From there he marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).
Remember, this is Caleb at 85! When all the others relaxed and retired, here’s old Caleb still so enthusiastic in accomplishing God’s command to him.
Enthusiasm is a word that is made up of the Greek words for in and God—En-theos-ism. It was coined to describe the zeal of the early Christians. When we have the God of all energy within us, there’s a surge of power that’s like an atomic reaction in our hearts. The apostle Paul said,
(1 Cor. 15:58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
Brethren be enthusiastic about our goal, our mission. Don’t be off-track or sidetracked.
4. Stay Energized About Your God
Only the energy of our God within us can keep us barreling forward into the remainder of God’s will for our lives. As I said, the story of Caleb’s life is told in thirty verses in the Bible. But six times in those verses (with my emphases added) we’re given the secret to his risk-filled, risk-taking life:
(14:24 NIV) 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.
(Num. 32:11-12) ’Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob— not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.’
(Deut. 1:35-36) “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
(Josh. 14:8-9) but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’
Caleb followed the LORD wholeheartedly! Caleb is being described that way. By the time he was eighty-five, most of his generation had given up hope and died. But Caleb still had a bright fire burning. He still wanted to risk his life on the greatest possible task God could give him.
That’s being persistent, a risk-taker for God. Brethren when we have this spirit in us, no giants can stop us from moving forward.