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This week's focus: Courage

I recently made the mistake of watching the news before bed. After a restless night of sleep, I woke up with the chorus of a song on my mind that I hadn’t heard in years, called Enemy’s Camp;

“Well, I went to the enemy’s camp
and I took back what he stole from me….”

Few would deny that the enemy has set up camp in the United States. With breathtaking speed, he is doing all he can to kill, steal, and destroy. The question we must ask ourselves is, what will we do about it? Will we take back the ground Satan is occupying, or will we choose to do nothing and allow evil to prevail?

In the book of Numbers, we read the account of twelve men who had the task of spying on occupied land; “The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites….” (Numbers 13:1).

God had already declared that He would give the land to the Israelites, but if they were to receive the blessing of ownership, they had to invade enemy territory and take possession of it.

After returning from their reconnaissance mission, they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful... All the people we saw there are of great size.” (Numbers 13:27-28, 32).

Instead of honoring the Lord with giant-sized faith, they made giant-sized excuses. Their unbelief was so contagious it infected the congregation—except for two.

Of the twelve, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who viewed the situation differently. By looking through the eyes of faith, they only saw victory. They wisely chose not to compare themselves against the giants but compared the giants against God. Their faith allowed them to be the only ones from that generation to enter the promised land.

Today, a battle for occupied land continues whether we like it or not. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that we are in a war against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Satan and his fallen angels have infiltrated every aspect of our society through media, entertainment, education, and government portals. The darkness of their presence can be seen every time we turn on the news.

But there is hope! God’s children can overwhelm the enemy by showing up in every place he sets up camp. Jesus gave us authority over all the power of the enemy for a reason (see Luke 10:19). We can push back against evil, armed with the knowledge that we cannot effect change without confrontation.

With so much at stake, now is the time to have the same attitude as Caleb when he said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Numbers 13:30). With the boldness that comes from belonging to Jesus, let’s suit up with the armor of God, take possession and occupy the land.

by: Jennifer McAlister, Communications, My Faith Votes