In a room of a hundred people, no doubt, all hands would go up, if asked, how many want to be successful. Statistics show however, that too many are not willing to do what it takes. Finish this sentence, "when the going gets tough,...." Too many like in our lesson today, let fear overcome faith (vs.1). If that's not bad enough, they often find a way to see and blame someone else for the obstacle that stand in their way (vs.2), rather than continuing to keep their eye on the prize. It was often quite funny, while serving overseas in the Armed Forces, to combat times of despair, often someone would reflect on where they came from as though it was just so great (vs.3-4). I do believe that there is nothing wrong with remembering the good times, but to want to be back there as a way out of dealing with where you are today, this doesn't better you. We who had been through this period, had a response for the person. "If it was all that, then why did you leave"? In other words, shake yourself and let's overcome this (keep your eyes on the prize). Moses and Aaron responded in humility (vs.5), while Joshua and Caleb responded in sorrow (vs.6). Their sorrow demonstrated courage, for they redirected the people's focus back to the prize(vs.7-9). It wasn't what the people wanted to hear (vs.10a), but truly what they needed to hear. If we're not careful, we can find ourselves like the children of Israel, pushing God, not to His limit, but to ours (vs.10b-12). Let's not find ourselves at this point, and if we backtrack, we see that it began with doubting, which then lead to rebelling. Let's take God at His Word and know that tough times only make us stronger.
Pastor Julius T. McLean
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