Give me this mountain...

Caleb makes a request.

"...Give me this mountain...for you have heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It maybe that the Lord will be with me and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said."

In other words: "Remember those giants that made us feel like grasshoppers? I still believe they are bread for us! I believe the Lord is able to drive them out and I want to be the means He uses.

Caleb isn't being prideful. He isn't self-confident. He is zealous for the cause of the Everlasting God. He is asking in faith, anxious to see God's glory fill the earth.

He succeeded. How? The account tell us "Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb...,because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel."

How many times have I made the request
" Oh God, send me where no one else wants to go. Send me where living conditions are hardest and spiritual darkness is deepest."

I have been making a "Caleb request", but have I been asking with a "Caleb faith"? I'm afraid not. I have been boldly proclaiming "Yes, Lord! Give me this mountain!" but my confidence has too often been resting on the frail foundation of personal strength. I have been counting on my health, youth and career training. I've been asking for the giants because I thought I had what it took.

Now that the giants are within view I, like Isaiah, am totally undone. My hands literally shake at times. That's nothing compared to the shaking of my soul as I realize my insufficiency.

One simple fact changes everything: The battle is not mine, but Gods.
I am not the most important ingredient in this battle. My willingness alone is needed. God could just as easily win this one with an old, sickly, uneducated me. Inadequacies just give Him a chance to shine all the more.

So Lord,...Give me this mountain! and let your glory fill the earth!