Colossal Faith: “Give Me This Mountain”
Conquering Mount Everest
Sir Edmund Hillary became the first climber known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. He made several unsuccessful attempts at scaling Mount Everest before he finally succeeded. After one failed attempt, he stood at the base of the mountain and shook his fist at it. “I’ll defeat you yet,” he said in defiance. “Because you’re as big as you’re going to get – but I’m still growing.”
The greatest opposition to our destiny is not what we see or experience, but rather what we believe about our existence. This is illustrated in the Old Testament story of Caleb.
Israel was at the threshold of their destiny. Moses sent twelve spies to go in and search out the Promised Land. The majority of them returned with a pessimistic report – essentially a plan to retreat and run.
Fear always looks at the problems – faith seizes the opportunities.
All the Israelites could see were giants in the land. But Caleb had a different spirit (Numbers 14:24). A person with vision and faith is more concerned about obedience in the now while leaving the impossible for later. They realize their faith is not in themselves, but anchored in a God who masters the impossible.
The giants were huge, their strength heroic, and their reputation was paralyzing. The Israelites felt like grasshoppers compared with the great task ahead of them. But Caleb had a different spirit – I just love that about him. I can’t say it enough – Caleb had a different spirit!
Give Me This Mountain
Another important note is that Caleb followed the Lord wholeheartedly (Joshua 14:14). And forty years later, after most of the Israelites had died off in the wilderness due to their unfortunate spirit of unbelief, Caleb, now 85-years-old, stood firmly at the base of an enormous enemy hillside and cried out “Give me this mountain” (Joshua 14:12).
Caleb didn’t ask for an easy task. Israel’s enemies were strongest in this region. It would be the most difficult part of the whole Promised Land to subdue, and Caleb, because he had a different spirit, was able to meet the challenge and conquer the mountain.
God is searching for Calebs, those who follow him faithfully even when their ideals are shattered, hopes are devastated, and dreams appear to be dead – those who are willing to follow him when others retreat and surrender.
Just like the neighboring hills of Mount Everest, the borders of the Promised Land are littered with the bodies of those who gave up.
That may conceivably be why Sir Edmund Hillary, years after conquering Everest, went on to say, “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
The greatest foe we face is the enemy of unbelief. God give us the courage and spirit of a Caleb.