Walking by Faith, Not by Sight: Seeing Through the Eyes of Faith

Numbers 13: 30-33 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.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 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. 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.”

Faith can be tricky, meaning that even when we believe in God’s awesome power, we can allow our eyes to overwrite our faith. Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, and Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, were chosen along with ten other leaders of Israel to scout out the land of Canaan. In Deuteronomy 1, Moses reminds the people that when God had told the people to enter into the Promised Land, they asked for men to go and spy out the land first and then refused to go in and take possession of the land because of the report they heard from ten of the spies.

Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies who advocated for entering the Promised Land, reminding the people of Israel of God’s past awesome deeds when bringing them out of Egyptian slavery. Caleb told them that they could go in and take the land. Although Caleb had seen the same tall men and fortified cities, he was walking by faith, not sight, as ten other men were. With eyes of faith, Caleb understood that no matter how big the problems in their lives looked, all things were possible because God was their Helper and Guide.

With eyes of faith, Caleb saw opportunities, not obstacles; breakthroughs, not barriers; and determination, not defeat. In these days of division and hate even in the Body of Christ, we must walk by faith and not by sight, with eyes of faith that see that there is nothing too hard for the Lord God Almighty. Look beyond the size of the problems to the faithfulness, compassion, and love of our Savior and Lord, and know that you are already victorious.

Amen.