Our Wednesday evening Bible Study on aging...yes aging (and we all are doing it, whether we like it or not!)...has struck some interesting chords in me. This week Rog zeroed in on Caleb. What an example! I was amazed once again to be reminded that Caleb waited 45 years to see the fulfillment of God's promise to him. Let me say that again...45 Years!!
Now I know I'm the only one that struggles with this, so just let me get it out of my system. How often I've prayed, "Lord, anything but wait...don't ask me to do that!" But then when He sees fit to have me wait anyway, I'm always amazed at His perfect timing, and the perfect work He has done in me while waiting. Mind you, the perfecting work didn't feel so great while I was in the process, but knowing it was a perfect work that He in His soverfeign love for me, was attempting to accomplish, well, that's what kept me going.
I'm old enough now to look back and reflect on times when the waiting turned into seasons of my life. Much like what Caleb experienced I suppose, when waiting is not just for days or weeks, but years. For him, God's promise involved a physical inheritance; land. This came as a direct Word from God through Moses. There were several things I see from Joshua 12 that kept Caleb going and that can apply to me personally as I look to the Lord to fulfil the promises of His Word in a very real way.
1) Caleb knew God's promise and even though days passed into months, and months into years he held on to it, not forgetting. You must know and understand God's promises to you. They must come from His Word, not just be personal feelings or desires. And you cannot try to understand and interpret them from a man-centered, needs-based perspective that does not give God His rightful place as Sovereign.
In other words, before supposing that God has not been faithful to His Word, give God the benefit of the doubt and confidently wait. (Josh 12: 6, 10 and 12;
2) While Caleb waited for God to be faithful in fulfilling His promise to him he did not waiver in his faithfulness to God. Rather, he was able to look back on his life and say he had "wholly followed the Lord [his] God"; and this was not said in arrogance but as an affirmation of Caleb's confidence in God's faithfulness to Him. I have seen all too often a disillusionment with God when He doesn't act as quickly as expected. Caleb allowed himself no reason to doubt God. And if anyone had a reason to become angry and bitter it was Caleb. It was because of the disobedience of "his brethren" (12:9) that Caleb's promise was delayed 45 years!!
3) Caleb claimed God's promise personally and specifically. Rog once had a gentleman tell him "you just take the Word of God too personally." What this gentleman intended as an insult Rog took as a compliment. It's not real until it's personal. God is all-powerful, all-sufficient, all-knowing. He knows where you are, He knows what you need, and when you need it. Who are we to demand from God? No, it is for us to trust, and wait.
4) Caleb was reassured by ongoing evidences of God’s faithfulness those forty-five years. He was kept physically strong and capable. He was sustained in the wilderness as he watched his own generation die off as God had said they would. He would “enter into rest” with the younger generation because his own generation had rebelled against God and chosen the path of unbelief. I couldn’t help but think of “the blessed hope” we cling to now of Christ’s return for us and all that God has in store (I Peter 1), but also the many “spiritual blessings” He has blessed us with now as we wait (Eph 1). It’s just like God to give us these affirmations of His love, reaffirming His commitment to fulfilling His promises by providing ongoing evidences of His faithfulness not just to us, but primarily to His Word. That’s just who He is.
What is it you are waiting for today? “My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him.” (Ps. 62: 5) And what did I learn from this about aging? I guess there are some things that come just with growing old!
