Turning ordinary into extraordinary

Remember the story of the Israelites right before they went into the Promised Land? Twelve guys went on a reconnaissance mission; one brave soul from each tribe. Over the border they went, starry-eyed and amazed. The land was bountiful, grape clusters so huge two men had to bind them to poles carried between their shoulders. And this was no overnight camp out. They explored the territory for forty days before reporting back. I can just imagine them standing before Moses, each so filled with images of what they had seen that their mouths ran on ahead of their brains. Truly, the land was glorious but—and this was a big but—the people were ginormous, so much so that the Jewish men looked like little grasshoppers by comparison.

Ten men said, and I paraphrase, “You gotta be kidding. I’m not going in there! We’ll get creamed, annihilated, squashed like bugs!” So convinced were they of their inevitable demise, they got the entire nation stirred into a frenzy, threatening to stone Caleb and Joshua. However, Caleb and Joshua had other ideas.

The distinct minority argued that the task was large but God was bigger. Caleb and Joshua, just ordinary guys, dared to see beyond the obvious, beyond the obstacles, beyond the normal course of logic to see the possibilities. They stepped over the line to trust God to be faithful in his promise to give them that land. Their faith was rewarded. They were the only men over the age of twenty to ever again enter the land flowing with milk and honey.

Caleb and Joshua knew this situation was anything but ordinary. They stood in awe of what God was doing. They understood that God was using them for an express purpose. Truly, they were ordinary guys turned extraordinary.