Most of us were just going along living life when 2020 hit. It seems now, we were maybe even a bit unprepared to face such a battle.These are unusual times. (Yeah, that is an understatement!) We have not experienced the intensity and relentless onslaught in our minds as we have this year, which is why we need an unusual response and a stronger tactic that we have ever needed before. But we can pivot our faith to rise to the challenge!
We need to come to terms with the fact that we need a different spirit of faith than we had before 2020 hit. As we continue to walk through this season, God is calling us to wrestle with issues we haven’t wanted to face and walk in a level of surrender and dependence we haven’t experienced before. Maybe we need Caleb’s kind of faith?
In Numbers 14, God was totally frustrated with the Israelites because they were disobeying him about going into the Promised Land once they realized it was full of giants. As much as Joshua and Caleb pleaded, the people would not catch the vision and see that they were not “grasshoppers” and that actually, in God, they were well able to defeat them and enter into everything God had promised. (You can read the entire story in Numbers 13-14.)
Here’s what God said about Caleb: But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it (Numbers 14:24 AMP).
God knew the Israelites were facing a bigger challenge than they had faced before. They needed a different spirit, a different identity. They needed to see themselves as victors and overcomers, and not victims and “grasshoppers.” They needed a different kind of faith.
This is exactly who we need to be right now! We need to see ourselves as victors, not victims of our circumstances, no matter how big they seem. We need to see ourselves as overcomers, not grasshoppers who are easily defeated by fear and anxiety.
This shift in mindset and fresh perspective is exactly the sort of faith we need right now, and thankfully, it’s exactly what Jesus died to give us. He is the Victor and the Overcomer and he lives inside us. Believe that today, friend.
This different kind of faith may feel different, look different and require different habits, actions and responses than normal. It may be different from what your friends and family are used to, but this is how we are going to persevere and overcome in this season.
Stand in faith today, friend. You are an overcomer. Fear is defeated and Jesus is victorious!