When we listen to reports of wars and rumors of war, or when we hear people speak things motivated by doom and gloom, we must take account of God’s promises so that what we say and report is not motivated by fear, but by our faith in God.

Joshua and Caleb are notable in Scripture because they were part of a group of spies who reconnoitered the land of Canaan before Israel entered the land to take the cities that occupied the region. Joshua and Caleb brought back a good report. Their fellow spies brought back a report laced with fear, describing the giants in the land and saying that, in their presence, they felt like grasshoppers.

Caleb was forty years old when he entered the land to spy it out. Caleb was now eighty-five years old, and it was time to divide the land and receive his allotment.

Caleb said to Joshua, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions” (Joshua 14: 7). The convictions of Caleb were based on his faith in God, not on his fear of the giants.

“But my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So, on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly” (vs. 8-9). The faith of Caleb did not allow his heart to melt away in fear. It helped him to remain strong and confident when he faced great opposition.

What made Caleb a trustworthy person was his wholehearted conviction that God would do what He promised. He saw the same giants as the other spies, but differently. He saw them as grasshoppers compared to God, easily crushed under God’s feet.

Because the perfect love of God casts out fear, our testimony about life and what we see in the world around us should never lead to an interpretation rooted in fear. We should always see God and His promises as more powerful and superior to any giants we face.

In every season of life, it’s our responsibility to deal with what is creating fear, not faith, in our hearts. That responsibility requires that we place our fears in God’s hands and move forward with Him, no matter what we see or hear.

Joshua and Caleb saw the same giants as the rest of the spies. But it was their faith in God to deliver what He promised that diminished the fears created by the presence of giants, the same kind of giants from which Goliath came.  The giant of the spirit of fear is present today and roaming the earth, attempting to influence God’s people and displace their faith with fear. Our faith in God will destroy any fear that comes and beckons us to follow its course of destruction.