No Rocking Chair In Here! - Caleb

“Give me the hill country that the LORD promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said.”

Joshua 14:12

Some men age gracefully.

You know the type. They may look younger than their age, and they certainly act it. They remain youthful in their attitude and energetic in their disposition. These active men continue to accomplish significant things, even when others believe they should be living out their golden years in a rocking chair.

Fast-forward forty-five years from the time that Caleb and Joshua urged their countrymen to possess Canaan. The two led a younger generation into the Promised Land, and the Lord granted many victories over warlike enemy tribes. Now Caleb was eighty-five years old.

You might think that such a veteran soldier would welcome a rocking chair, but not Caleb! He had yet to take possession of the land the Lord had promised him more than four decades earlier, and he intended to see that promise fulfilled.

Caleb’s courage sprang from his unshakable belief that God keeps his promises. He knew that giant Anakites lived in the hill country, but he exclaimed, “If the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said” (Joshua 14:12).

Like Caleb, Joshua had absolute faith in the reliability of God’s promises. Several years earlier, the Lord had told him to be strong and courageous and not to be afraid or discouraged because the Lord would be with him wherever he went (see Joshua 1:9). When Joshua eagerly acknowledged Caleb’s God-given right to Hebron (see Joshua 14:13), his octogenarian friend heartily engaged the enemy and drove them out, just as God had promised!

What sort of hill country has the Lord set before you? It may seem impossible to accomplish and daunting to ponder, but if God goes with you into the battle, the outcome is certain before the arrows even begin to fly. Of course, you won’t grasp the victory if you don’t enter the battle.

You may live to age eighty-five or one hundred, but you will never outlive tough challenges. So get that rocking chair out of there! You have battles to win and blessings to impart to the next generation.