They could do this. Win the battle. Conquer the land. Enter Canaan. He believed it. Knew it. In his head and his heart. They could win this. All of it. The fertile farmlands, the burgeoning orchards, the thriving vineyards. Their cattle could drink from the crystal clear streams. Their people could rest and build and inhabit the lush countryside. Their children and grandchildren could know a good life in a good land. The opportunity to realize all the dreams they had dreamed while enslaved in Egypt lay before them, ripe for the picking. They could have it all. If they simply stiffened their spines, went up and took it.
Caleb wasn’t being an obtuse optimist. He knew the score. He’d been on that spying mission right along with the rest of them. He’d seen all the good things in Canaan. Wanted them as much as anyone. He’d also seen the inhabitants of the land. Big men. Huge. Enormous. They would certainly make a formidable foe to anyone daring an attack. But they weren’t unbeatable. In fact, if the people of Israel would stop going to pieces every time things got difficult and start casting their faith in the God who had miraculously brought them safely to the borders of this good land, they would find that same God would fight the battle for them. He would give them the land. Caleb knew it. Believed it. They simply needed to trash their fear and trust their God instead.
Strongly and audibly, the people disagreed. Caleb was clueless. He had clearly been too mesmerized by green, leafy trees and tall, waving grasses to see the giants roaming the land. They hadn’t been. No. They might have glimpsed the lovely foliage in their periphery, but front and center in their vision then and their hindsight now was the sheer size of the men they would have to defeat in order to inhabit the land. Slipping into old habits, they allowed fear to overtake their faith. Determine their future. Convince them it would be a suicide mission. No matter what Caleb said. No matter how strongly Joshua agreed with him. No matter how many times their God had bailed them out in the past, they held no such confidence for this battle now. The people flatly refused to go.
It didn’t change Caleb’s convictions. Their negativity didn’t rain on his parade. Not one word of it gave him pause. He had no second thoughts. He didn’t want the people to miss out on something amazing because a couple of giants loomed in the path ahead. He didn’t want them to forget that pleasing God would always bring victory. Teaming up with Joshua, he made every effort to convince them to change their minds. Stop their grumbling and wailing. Forget their fears. Trust their God. Go conquer the land.
Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears and closed minds. Angry with his attempts at sharing his convictions, the people discussed stoning him. They all but had the stones in their hands when the Lord appeared to have a word with Moses. Caleb’s breath left his lungs in a grateful exhale at God’s immediate deliverance. Not that the stones would have changed his mind. They wouldn’t have. Caleb wouldn’t have renounced his convictions concerning God’s ability, His requirements, His promises, even if they had launched those stones in his direction. He would always choose to follow God wholeheartedly. He would never turn from his convictions. And God rewarded him for it.
All the men who had gone to explore Canaan and returned with a negative report causing grumbling and lack of faith in the community died by a plague. Everyone except Caleb and Joshua. They remained unscathed. Their stronghold on their faith and devotion to their convictions kept them from death. Allowed them to travel safely through the next forty-year journey through the wilderness. Brought them safely into the promised land. Because God is faithful to those who are faithful to Him. He rewards those who follow Him wholeheartedly, who trust His promises, who live according to His standards and abide by their convictions, regardless of what those around them are doing. (Numbers 13:17-14:37; Joshua 14:6-9)
Daniel found it so. Exiled in a foreign land, surrounded by foreign gods and practices, commanded to give up praying to any god but the king, ensnared by his enemies, Daniel held his convictions and prayed to his God. Three times a day. Every day. Out loud. In front of an open window. He didn’t hide in a closet. Didn’t close the windows. Didn’t silently mouth the words. No. Daniel did what he had always done, what his convictions demanded he do. In spite of the king’s most recent decree, he went to his window, opened the shutters, dropped to his knees, and audibly prayed to his God.
Rubbing their hands together in delight at the seamless success of their plot against Daniel, the satraps, and administrators nearly tripped over their feet as they raced to tattle to the king. Daniel was praying. To his own God. They heard him. He had blatantly violated the king’s decree. King Darius had to do something about it. He had to uphold his decree. No matter how distressed he was that the offender was Daniel, he couldn’t set a precedent that his decrees were negotiable. They weren’t. He had no choice but to order Daniel thrown into the lions’ den. But the king had been watching Daniel. He knew Daniel’s convictions. He knew about Daniel’s God. He knew if there was any hope of a rescue it would have to come from the God to whom Daniel was wholly devoted.
Anxiously following Daniel to the mouth of the den, the king issued one last hopeful plea. Maybe the God to whom Daniel was so faithfully devoted would save him. Maybe He would send a rescue. Maybe this ill-advised plan could be thwarted. If Daniel continued to stand according to his convictions, if Daniel continued to pray. Maybe God would deliver him from the tearing mouths of the vicious beasts below. Regretfully watching Daniel enter and the stone be rolled back over the opening to the den, King Darius pressed his signet ring to the rough surface, sealing Daniel’s fate. Heavy-hearted, he walked away, knowing that nothing short of a miracle from Daniel’s God would stop the carnage below. He would have to wait and see if all that dedication, all those convictions would result in salvation. It was going to be a long night.
Streaks of dawn were barely breaking the horizon when the king rushed down to the lions’ den. Drawing near, he called out to Daniel. Had his God saved him? Had he survived the harrowing experience? Had the wholehearted commitment Daniel made to serve God alone paid off? Had he been rewarded, rescued for adhering to his convictions? Standing with bated breath, King Darius awaited the reply. Finally, it floated out. Not only was Daniel alive, not one hair on his head had been touched. He walked safely among the wild beasts and slept peacefully beside them. Why? Because God rewards those who follow Him wholeheartedly, who honor their convictions regardless of decree, peer pressure, or possible negative outcome. (Daniel 6:1-22)
Caleb and Daniel weren’t the only ones who chose to live by their convictions no matter the outcome. James sacrificed his life for his convictions. Peter endured prison for the cause of Christ he so deeply believed. Stephen preached when silence would have spared his life. Paul and Silas preached and prayed and praised through beatings and imprisonment. Persevering through arrests and trials, shipwrecks and house arrest, Paul continued to share his beliefs, live out his convictions, never stopping to count the physical or social cost. And it must surely have cost him. When he fell to the ground blinded, it seems he lost his followers as well. The henchmen traveling with him aren’t mentioned as staying around to ensure his recovery. They didn’t attempt to take him back home. For all intents and purposes, he was an outcast the moment he talked to God. The instant he changed his focus. The second he aligned his convictions with those of Heaven. When Paul chose to follow Jesus, his fans chose to unsubscribe. Yet still he chose to live according to his convictions, fully comprehending that knowing Christ on a personal level was more valuable than everything he’d ever had and everyone he’d ever known. (Philippians 3:4-11; Acts 12:1-11; 9:1-31; 16:16-26; 21-28)
It behooves us to believe the same. At a time when churches are flooded with concessions but grievously skimping on conviction, we must each know what we believe, where we stand, in whom we place our faith. We have to know our God. Personally. Pressured by an increasingly complacent society to modify our convictions, alter our beliefs, adjust our speech to a more socially acceptable rhetoric, it is imperative to hold fast to what we know is true. No matter how tempting it is, we don’t dare be pulled off course, change the requirements, or lower the bar. We can’t afford it. Why? Because God rewards the faithful. He blesses those who choose to place their faith and hope and trust in Him and stay the course of absolute righteousness no matter what the rest of the world chooses to do. God honors those who live according to their convictions. So, do you? Do you live in such a way that everyone around you knows what you believe? Do you live your convictions out loud? Does your life reflect your faith in God? Do your words reveal your confidence in Him? Are your standards and beliefs solid or negotiable? Do you live according to your convictions regardless of the cost or are you selling your soul at the concession stand of the world? (II Timothy 3:1-7; Romans 1:18-32; Matthew 13:45-46; Isaiah 50:7; Ephesians 6:10-18; James 1:12-22; Jeremiah 17:7; I Samuel 2:30; John 12:26; I Peter 3:15; Acts 20:22-24)