by David Chadwick
Good guys and bad guys are in every good story. A compelling plot has twists and turns and God’s story is full of both! God never shies away from showing us the good, bad and ugly of characters in his story. I believe the authenticity of Scripture is part of how he teaches us his best lessons!
The 10 spies of Numbers 13:25-14:10 are today’s bad guys. Let me tell you their story.
The Israelites had been moving from Egypt to the edge of the land God wanted them to possess as their own. His promised land. So, Moses sent out 12 spies to scout out the land and report what they saw.
Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, returned with excitement. They saw the land and the abundance God had promised them. Their response was full of faith as they said, “Let’s go!”
But 10 of the spies returned with a negative report. They saw walled cities. Giants. Hurdles. Obstacles. Unlike Joshua and Caleb, they looked at the size of their problems instead of the size of their God who easily tears down walls and slay giants!
These 10 men infected the rest of the 3 million Israelites. Like an infectious disease, their unbelief and doubt spread like wildfire. Unbelief consumed them all.
As a result, God’s people had to spend another 40 years wandering in the wilderness until that generation of unbelievers were replaced with a different generation of people who believed in God’s promises and were willing to confidently face giants and walled cities!
Fear and unbelief are enemies of God’s story. They are “bad guys” in and of themselves. Because the 10 spies were so controlled by these qualities, I label them as some of the bad guys in God’s story.
On the other hand, faith moves mountains (Mark 11:22-24) because nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26)! Faith is a quality of heroes and a sign that you trust God above all else.
Dear friends, choose to have faith! Fight unbelief! If there is any unbelief inside of you, then repent just like the father in Mark 9 and say to God, “I believe. Now help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23-25).
Then watch as your Promised Land begins to unfold before you.