Charles Stanley — A Collapse of Courage
Oftentimes people work hard toward some goal that they have and they get right to the edge of achieving that goal, or grasping what they’ve been dreaming of and they miss it. They overcome obstacles; they work hard; they just know that whatever they’re out there and what they’re reaching for they’re going to make it. And they come right to the edge of it and then they lose it. Why do people lose what is almost within their grasp, their dream, their desire, their hopes, and yet they miss it.
Well, our scripture today is one illustration of just that process that happens. That people don’t really have the courage oftentimes to grasp what God has provided for them. And you may be in that position. There’s something you’ve worked for, longed for, prayed for, hoped for, shared with others that you’re working toward it; and then when it comes to saying “yes”; when it comes to achieving it; when it comes to finally capitalizing on what you’ve worked so hard for, you miss it. Why is that? Well, I want you to think about that. And I want you to think about maybe why you’ve missed something in your life that you really wanted, desired and prayed for and hoped for but somehow you missed it.
So, the title of this message is A Collapse of Courage. This is our third message on courage, A Collapse of Courage. You’ve got it and then all of a sudden something happens. And so, I want to define courage so we will know exactly what we’re talking about. That quality of mind or spirit enabling one to meet danger, face opposition or the challenges of life with fearlessness, calmness and firmness. You ought to write that down. That’s what courage is all about.
And so, our scripture is the thirteenth chapter, the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Numbers; and let me give you a little idea of what’s happening. God has led the people of Israel from Egyptian bondage, through the Red Sea into the wilderness, down the Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. And the rest of that time in the wilderness, they were receiving the laws of God by which they were to live their life and to govern their nation, the nation of Israel. And so, they’d come to this particular point that God had promised them. The scripture says in the thirteenth chapter of Numbers, verse one, "Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'Send out for yourself men so that they can spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of the fathers’ tribes, everyone a leader among them.'"
And so, now that they’re on the edge, on the brink of the blessing they’ve longed for, it’s like being right at the door of heaven and God’s getting ready to open the door. And that’s where they are, and so Moses says, I want you to send a spy from each tribe so it will be equal and everybody will know what’s going on. So, twelve men went into what was to be called the Promised Land, into Canaan, and spied it all out, looked at it. And so, he gave them very clear instructions. And he said to them, "Spy out the land". He told them where to go, "See what the land is like, whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. How is the land, is it good or bad? How the cities, are they open, range, open camps or with fortifications? How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees, or not"? And that he just made detailed questions of what he wanted them to find out.
So, when they came out, came back, they would know exactly what the issue was in taking this land. And remember what he says in this particular verse of scripture. He says, the land which God has given us. That is, it was already a gift from God. Now, all of a sudden, here they were. They could look over into Canaan. And if you’ll notice in the twenty-third verse, this thirteenth chapter, "Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates".
And so, when I look at that passage of scripture and think about the opportunity they had before them. And God made it real clear, and then sending the spies, one from each tribe, then that everybody would have the picture of what was going to happen. And so, when they came back to give a report, scripture says that, "They proceeded to come to Moses, Aaron and to all the congregation, the sons of Israel in the wilderness". And so forth, and they, "Showed them the fruit". And then they told them, they said, "We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit". Showing them the grapes. Then they said, "Nevertheless," the other side of this, "the people who live in the land are strong, the cities are fortified, very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there". Big folks. "Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the seaside".
And so, they said, Well, here’s the total picture. You see the grapes, but there are some folks out there that are going to be tough to deal with. And so, "Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'We should by all means go up, we will surely overcome it.' But the men who had gone up with them," which would be ten of them, "Said, 'We are not able to go up against these people, for they are too strong for us.' So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report," that’s ten to two, "a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it, men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim; and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.'"
So, they came back with this report. Two of them said, Yes! Because God had said, I’ve given you the land, not I’m going to, I’ve given it to you. And so, Joshua and Caleb said, Yes, we can take it. The other ten said, No, we can’t. We look like grasshoppers. And on and on they went about fortified cities and so forth and all that went on with that. So here they are looking over into the Promised Land; thinking about what they went through in the wilderness; thinking about Egyptian bondage; thinking about slavery in Egypt; or, losing their families and all the things that they went through. And then thinking about crossing the Red Sea right in front of them. And then going down to Sinai and receiving the Ten Commandments and God has done exactly what He promised to do. He’s delivered them, freed them up. And now, here’s the land of promise. It’s yours for the taking. And God says, I have given you the land.
Well, sometimes we don’t believe what He says. And sometimes people make big mistakes in their life because they pray and pray and pray and they believe that this is what God wants them to do. And then when God provides the opportunity, they say, Well, I don’t think so. That’s too good for me. God would never do that for me. Or, He would never provide that for me. And right at the doorstep of success and blessing, they turn down God’s awesome goodness for them. They turn down God’s goodness right at the doorstep of receiving it. You ever been there? Is that where you are? Has God promised you something and you come right to the end of it and say, Well, thank You, Father, in Jesus’ name. And then you can’t grasp it. You just can’t, it’s like reaching for a doorknob and you just can’t, you just can’t open the door. On the other side of the door is everything your heart longed for. You just can’t open the door. Your courage just collapses right at the point of your desire. This is what happened to them.
So, when you look at this passage of scripture and see what, for example, their objections here were very evident. So, I want us to think about what these objections were. And of course you’re not going to remember exactly what this passage says, but I want you to remember the idea. The idea that God has promised you something, there it is, and for some reason you can’t handle it. And we could just go right through a list of things that people face in life. And then when the opportunity comes, they don’t do it.
So, let’s look at the objections that these ten guys had when God had already said to them, and they knew God said it, I’ve given you the land. And here they are right across the way. They can see into the Promised Land and they object. We’re not able. These people are too strong. Are they stronger than God? No. "The land, devours its inhabitants". There are so many of them. Are they more than God? No. All the men are of great size. Anybody bigger than God? No. And then they said, We, as we looked at them, "We became like grasshoppers".
Listen. When you’re doing what God wants you to do, you’re a giant. You’re not a grasshopper. And that’s the problem that people have oftentimes. We look at ourselves differently than God looks. Then, what happened is the people began to grumble with, "Moses and Aaron". In fact, and Caleb and Joshua, and they wanted to stone them to death. And so, they accused the Lord of bringing them to a land to die by the sword, they said. You’re just talking about taking us over there and we’ll all get killed. And they’ll plunder our families; and they’ll take away what little we do have. No, and on and on and on they spent that day and night, talking about why they couldn’t do, listen, why they couldn’t do what God said He’s already done for them.
Now think about this in your life. It’s not the story I want you to remember. I want you to remember this. When you come to a test in your life, remember that if God tells you to do something, He has already got it done. Just because you can’t see it done, that’s what faith’s all about. That’s what courage is all about. I’m going to step forward and take what God has provided for me because He’s told me to do it. Isn’t it interesting how we can forget so easily? You remember the last time you faced some challenge in your life, and you cried out and prayed to God and prayed and prayed and prayed and God did exactly what you asked Him to do. And the next time something comes along it’s a test in your life and you know, ohhh, I don’t know. You know what? Mmmmm-mm. And you just fiddle around and have a pity party and feel sorry for yourself. And what you really do is you have a courage collapse. You just, you could but now you can’t.
Now where did all that come from? Right here, in your thinking. Our thinking, all of our actions are the result of our thinking. Do I believe He can, or believe He can’t? Has nothing to do with your foot or your hand, or some other part of your body. It has to do with how you think. Do you believe that God is who He says He is? Do you believe that God will do what He says He will do? And more than likely, you may be one of those persons facing a challenge in your life and you’re trying to figure out what to do. I can tell you exactly what to do. You say, You can’t tell me what to do. You don’t even know anything about me. Yes, I can tell you exactly what to do. You do exactly what God has clearly told you to do. That’s what you do. And you cannot ever lose being obedient to Almighty God.
And here they were, complaining and moaning and groaning, wanting to stone Moses and Joshua and Caleb. So, the question is why did they come to their conclusion? Same reasons we do sometimes; and the first one is this. And that is, they forgot God’s promise. God says, I’m going to give you the land. And so, you think of all the promises that God has given you. And when you come up to a situation that’s difficult, here’s the mistake. You make the same mistake these people did. What mistake was that? They listened to negative reports. Two spiritual giants had said, Yes! And ten fellows, and we don’t even know anything about them. We just know they were all doubters. And they all had no faith. And they were all scared to death. And what did they do? They overwhelmed the rest of the people with their negativism and everybody suffered as a result.
So, they forgot God’s promise. The second thing is this. They focused on their resources rather than God’s, because they weren’t armed really, to really fight big battles. So, how are we going to fight these folks that look like giants when they have fortified cities? That means walled cities. How are we going to do that? God has the power to do anything necessary in order for Him to fulfill His promise to you. You don’t stop because you don’t understand how. Lot of things in life you’re not going to understand how. And so that’s part of their problem. And then a third thing is this. They chose to listen to doubters rather than the believers. And the thing you don’t want to do, listen, don’t surround yourself with people who don’t believe in God; or, who believe in God, but don’t believe He will do what He says He will do. Or, don’t believe that God answers prayer. Or don’t believe that you’re worth God doing anything for you. Don’t let yourself get entangled with people who are negative. Because what they do, they convince you to make decisions that are not of God and you suffer the results.
You see what these people did. God said, I’ve given you the land. Joshua and Caleb said, We can handle it. And what they do is they start reasoning, if all these other things are true, we can’t do it. And so, what they did is they left God out of the decision process. Now watch this. You can do this in your life. You’re in the process of making a decision, you hear this, you hear that, you read this, you read that, you see this, you see that. The issue is what does God want? And that decision is a decision we should face and ask every single time we’re making a decision that’s important in our life. What does God want? What is the will of God? And the will of God for them was take the land.
Listen. We forget if God says, I’m going to do a thing. He’s going to do it. If God says, I want you to do thus and so; you have the promise of His presence, His power and His provision to enable you to accomplish that. We fall short. We stop short because we don’t really believe Him. And so, that was their problem. They just left God out of the whole issue. And then they allowed these negative reports to overshadow the promises of God. Here’s what happens. God says, I’ve given you the land. Ohhhhh, look at those fortified cities. I’ve given you the land. Ohhhhh, look at those Nephilim. I’ve given you the land. Ohhhhh, but they’ll plunder our families. I’ve given you the land. And on and on and on it goes. And so, they made the wrong decisions based on listening to negative attitudes. And they listened to people who didn’t believe that God could do what He said He would do.
And so, they forgot all that God had done for them. Freeing them in Egypt, crossing the Red Sea, giving the Ten Commandments, providing for them in the wilderness when there was nothing to eat and God sent wafers and sent birds and. In other words, these people didn’t have a single legitimate reason for doubting God, not a one. And besides that, they could see the Promised Land. They could see it. But they didn’t take it, because they forgot God’s previous promises and God’s previous work in their life. And they ended up saying, Let’s choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Can you imagine anybody being so foolish? Moses, whom they knew God’s chosen servant, had led them and faithfully led them and gave them, They went up in the mountain, Sinai, and gave them the Ten Commandments and said, This is how God wants us to live. They said, Let's find us another leader, and take let’s go back.
All that looks real foolish to us but if we’re not careful, we’ll let ourselves get in a position that we listen to somebody else instead of God. And probably most people have made that mistake in their life. Or, some people have been a part of making that a reality in somebody else’s life. Have you encouraged somebody else to do something that was not of God? Have you encouraged them not to take a particular job because the truth is you really wanted it. Or whatever the situation may be? Each one of us is an individual.
Every believer is indwelt by the Living God in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Whatever God calls us to do, commands us to do or offers us. He doesn’t make false promises. He doesn’t make false, empty offers. He fulfills every single promise He makes. But if you leave God out of the circumstance; you leave God out of the equation in your life; you leave God out of the decision; you’re going to make foolish decisions. And when I look to see what happened. For example, back to the wilderness they went; looking back over their shoulder to the Promised Land for everything they dreamed of, into that desert they went. And in the process, God’s judgment, every man twenty years old and older died in the wilderness.
It’s not always easy to be obedient, but you know, if somebody said to you, Well, what’s Stanley’s message in life, what would you say? “Obey God and leave the consequences to Him.” Well, I might as well retire. You got it! I don’t plan on retiring by anyway, but... So, age doesn’t really make that much difference. You ought to get wiser the longer you live, if you stay in the Book. So, I think this passage of scripture is a good example. Somebody says, Well, so if you say, what’s the one key that keeps you being obedient to God? Meditating on the Word of God; reading the scripture each day; talking to God; bringing the issues that concern you, for example. Bringing these issues to God, whatever it might be. Because listen. When you’re afraid, this is the place to go and hear Him say, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will be with you. In other words, when you read the Word of God and you’re asking Him to speak to your heart, listen carefully. When you face one of those things that you’re not sure and you’re frightened about, you turn to a verse of scripture like that and He says we’re to be strong and courageous. He’ll be with us no matter what.
And so, here’s what happens. It changes your attitude; changes your mind. Instead of me being afraid, here’s what He said. Somebody says, and I can hear this now. I’ve heard this so many times. Yeah, but that’s thousands of years ago and that’s what God said to Joshua. Well, why do you think God has preserved it for thousands of years? Because He wants all of us to hear it also. And so, God wants the best for us. And I’ve said all of this to simply say, Don’t get to the edge of your future, whatever God has right across the fence from where you are, don’t let yourself get there and turn back out of listening to the wrong voices; being afraid; questioning, doubting God; or thinking you don’t deserve it. Just take the blessings that God has for you. Just step out.
And the scripture says, Be courageous. Be bold. You know why? Because you, listen, watch this carefully. Because you never do it alone. When you were saved, the Holy Spirit came into your life and He indwells you. He’s living inside of you to enable you, to encourage you, to empower you to achieve anything and everything in your life that fits the will of God. That’s who you are. You are indwelt by the person and the power of Almighty God. So, we should fear nothing. Trust God for everything and claim every promise that God lays before us, and thank Him for the wonderful privilege of being one of His children.
Now, for example, if you’re not a Christian; you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior. None of you just never thought about any of that. None of this will work. You say, Well, do I have a reason to be afraid? You sure do. And here’s the reason. One day you’re going to die. You’re going to meet the God that you shut out of your life. You’re going to be judged according to the life that you’ve lived without God. And you will spend eternity separated from God. So, is that really what you want? I don’t think so. It may be that you believe that none of that is true, but let me just say this to you. All the evidence, not some of it, all the evidence is on the side that this is the truth because it’s the Word of God.
If you ask the Lord to forgive you of your sin, not because you’re good or going to get good, because when Jesus died and went to the cross, He shed His blood for your sin, mine and all the rest of the world. If you’re willing to ask Him genuinely to forgive you of your sins through His death at Calvary, and that you’re surrendering your life to Him, He will forgive you, accept you as one of His children, surely you don’t want to walk away from eternal life. I hope not. And Father, we thank You and we praise You. We bless Your holy name. Thank You for the day You saved us. Thank You for living Your life in and through us. Thank You for being true every time. Thank You for coming through in every situation. Thank You providing for each of us every need. We thank You for being the awesome God that You are. Let our courage always ride high in our life, being fearless and bold and trusting You for every single need that we have, and the direction that we would desire. We love You and we praise You, in Jesus’ name, amen.