Out on the Wild Frontier: Stuck or Soaring?
Will You Soar or Stay Stuck?
There is a moment on every plane flight when the wheels leave the runway and the ground disappears beneath you. For most seasoned travelers, it barely registers. Eyes close, heads lean back, and the miracle of human flight becomes nothing more than a commute. But for a child experiencing it for the first time, that moment is electric. The buttons, the lights, the window, the roar of the engines gaining speed — all of it builds to a crescendo of pure, uncontainable wonder the instant the nose lifts into the sky…iiiiiiii yi yi!
The difference between those two passengers is not the flight. The flight is identical. The difference is the posture of the heart. One is underwhelmed. One is overwhelmed. One is yawning. One is soaring.
That contrast is not just a travel observation. It is a profound spiritual reality. How you approach your journey will determine your destination.
The Story at the Edge of the Promised Land
In Numbers 13 and 14, the people of God found themselves at one of the most pivotal moments in their history. After 400 years of bondage in Egypt, after miraculous deliverance through the plagues and the Passover, after walking through the parted waters of the Red Sea on dry ground, they stood at the edge of the land God had promised them. Moses sent twelve spies into the land to scout it out, and when they returned, every single one of them agreed on one thing: the land was extraordinary. Rich, fruitful, and flowing with abundance.
But ten of those twelve men could not get past what else they saw. There were giants. Fortified cities. Powerful people. The ten spies gave what the text calls a "bad report," convincing the people that the obstacles were simply too great. Their conclusion, recorded in Numbers 13:32, was devastating in its self-assessment: they had become like grasshoppers in their own sight.
And so, instead of stepping forward in faith, the people of God wandered in the wilderness for forty years. An entire generation never entered what God had prepared for them.
This is one of the most sobering passages in all of Scripture, and it raises a question that cuts straight to the heart of every believer: Will we soar, or will we stay stuck?
Three Reasons We Get Stuck
Understanding why we get stuck is the first step toward soaring.
We forget God's faithfulness from our yesterdays. The Israelites had witnessed miracle after miracle. God's track record was impeccable. Yet in the face of a new challenge, they acted as though He had never come through for them before. Numbers 14:11 captures God's heartbreak over this very thing, asking how His people could so quickly forget His goodness. The same tendency lives in us. When a new giant appears, we can forget every Red Sea moment God has already brought us through. Memory is a spiritual discipline. When we forget, we falter.
We stay pleased in the present. Comfort is one of the most effective anchors keeping people from their purpose. The ten spies loved the grapes from the promised land, but they did not want to fight the giants to get there. It is easy to admire what God is doing from a safe distance without ever committing to be part of it. Every great act recorded in Scripture required movement. You cannot remain exactly where you are and simultaneously go with God. The two are mutually exclusive. God’s people didn’t sacrifice their comfort; they stayed right where they were.
We fear the future. Numbers 14 records the people weeping and crying out in despair because they could not see how their story would unfold. Fear is not a minor inconvenience. It is a paralyzing force that, left unchecked, will ground you indefinitely. Understand this, courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is taking steps into the unknown based on what you know to be true. It is pushing off the wall and swimming toward the other side, even when your heart is pounding.
Four Reasons We Can Soar
Against the backdrop of ten fearful voices, two men stood apart. Joshua and Caleb looked at the same land, the same giants, and the same obstacles, and they said: let’s go. Their example points shows us how to soar.
Follow the Father's voice. There were three voices competing for the attention of God's people: the forgetful voice, the fearful voice, and the Father's voice. God had been speaking His promises over this people for generations, all the way back to Abraham. His word had not changed. It never does. When every other voice is loud and convincing, the practice of tuning your ear to the one voice that matters above all others is what separates those who wander from those who soar.
Dare to be different. Caleb stood up in Numbers 13:30 and declared that the people should go and possess the land. He and Joshua were willing to be the minority. They were willing to look out of step with the crowd. Living with genuine spiritual vision means you may not fit in. It means your priorities will look strange to people around you. But as Helen Keller once observed, there is something far worse than being born blind, and that is having sight without vision. Dare to be different!
Believe big. Joshua and Caleb did not deny the giants. They simply refused to let the giants be bigger than God. They looked through what might be called the lens of glory, and from that vantage point, the obstacles shrank. God has not shrunk. He has never shrunk. The question is whether we allow Him to grow small in the lens of our own limited faith, or whether we see Him as He actually is — vast, faithful, and entirely capable.
Obey fully. The people of God had everything they needed. The promises had been spoken. The path had been made clear. Their greatest need was not new information. It was full obedience. The same is true today. The great commandment has not changed. The great commission has not changed. God has given His people everything required to move forward. The only remaining question is whether we will follow Him completely, releasing our grip on the familiar and launching out into the deep.
The Wind Is Blowing
A kite does not rise by standing still. You find the wind, you face it, you run headlong into it, and holding on for dear life. Acts 2:2 describes the arrival of the Holy Spirit as a violent, rushing wind. The early church caught that wind and ran, and what was born in those moments changed the world forever.
That same wind is blowing. The question is whether you will open your hands, release what you have been clinging to, and let it carry you into the wild frontier God has prepared.
The runway is right in front of you. It is time to soar. iiiiiiii yi yi!
There is a moment on every plane flight when the wheels leave the runway and the ground disappears beneath you. For most seasoned travelers, it barely registers. Eyes close, heads lean back, and the miracle of human flight becomes nothing more than a commute. But for a child experiencing it for the first time, that moment is electric. The buttons, the lights, the window, the roar of the engines gaining speed — all of it builds to a crescendo of pure, uncontainable wonder the instant the nose lifts into the sky…iiiiiiii yi yi!
The difference between those two passengers is not the flight. The flight is identical. The difference is the posture of the heart. One is underwhelmed. One is overwhelmed. One is yawning. One is soaring.
That contrast is not just a travel observation. It is a profound spiritual reality. How you approach your journey will determine your destination.
The Story at the Edge of the Promised Land
In Numbers 13 and 14, the people of God found themselves at one of the most pivotal moments in their history. After 400 years of bondage in Egypt, after miraculous deliverance through the plagues and the Passover, after walking through the parted waters of the Red Sea on dry ground, they stood at the edge of the land God had promised them. Moses sent twelve spies into the land to scout it out, and when they returned, every single one of them agreed on one thing: the land was extraordinary. Rich, fruitful, and flowing with abundance.
But ten of those twelve men could not get past what else they saw. There were giants. Fortified cities. Powerful people. The ten spies gave what the text calls a "bad report," convincing the people that the obstacles were simply too great. Their conclusion, recorded in Numbers 13:32, was devastating in its self-assessment: they had become like grasshoppers in their own sight.
And so, instead of stepping forward in faith, the people of God wandered in the wilderness for forty years. An entire generation never entered what God had prepared for them.
This is one of the most sobering passages in all of Scripture, and it raises a question that cuts straight to the heart of every believer: Will we soar, or will we stay stuck?
Three Reasons We Get Stuck
Understanding why we get stuck is the first step toward soaring.
We forget God's faithfulness from our yesterdays. The Israelites had witnessed miracle after miracle. God's track record was impeccable. Yet in the face of a new challenge, they acted as though He had never come through for them before. Numbers 14:11 captures God's heartbreak over this very thing, asking how His people could so quickly forget His goodness. The same tendency lives in us. When a new giant appears, we can forget every Red Sea moment God has already brought us through. Memory is a spiritual discipline. When we forget, we falter.
We stay pleased in the present. Comfort is one of the most effective anchors keeping people from their purpose. The ten spies loved the grapes from the promised land, but they did not want to fight the giants to get there. It is easy to admire what God is doing from a safe distance without ever committing to be part of it. Every great act recorded in Scripture required movement. You cannot remain exactly where you are and simultaneously go with God. The two are mutually exclusive. God’s people didn’t sacrifice their comfort; they stayed right where they were.
We fear the future. Numbers 14 records the people weeping and crying out in despair because they could not see how their story would unfold. Fear is not a minor inconvenience. It is a paralyzing force that, left unchecked, will ground you indefinitely. Understand this, courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is taking steps into the unknown based on what you know to be true. It is pushing off the wall and swimming toward the other side, even when your heart is pounding.
Four Reasons We Can Soar
Against the backdrop of ten fearful voices, two men stood apart. Joshua and Caleb looked at the same land, the same giants, and the same obstacles, and they said: let’s go. Their example points shows us how to soar.
Follow the Father's voice. There were three voices competing for the attention of God's people: the forgetful voice, the fearful voice, and the Father's voice. God had been speaking His promises over this people for generations, all the way back to Abraham. His word had not changed. It never does. When every other voice is loud and convincing, the practice of tuning your ear to the one voice that matters above all others is what separates those who wander from those who soar.
Dare to be different. Caleb stood up in Numbers 13:30 and declared that the people should go and possess the land. He and Joshua were willing to be the minority. They were willing to look out of step with the crowd. Living with genuine spiritual vision means you may not fit in. It means your priorities will look strange to people around you. But as Helen Keller once observed, there is something far worse than being born blind, and that is having sight without vision. Dare to be different!
Believe big. Joshua and Caleb did not deny the giants. They simply refused to let the giants be bigger than God. They looked through what might be called the lens of glory, and from that vantage point, the obstacles shrank. God has not shrunk. He has never shrunk. The question is whether we allow Him to grow small in the lens of our own limited faith, or whether we see Him as He actually is — vast, faithful, and entirely capable.
Obey fully. The people of God had everything they needed. The promises had been spoken. The path had been made clear. Their greatest need was not new information. It was full obedience. The same is true today. The great commandment has not changed. The great commission has not changed. God has given His people everything required to move forward. The only remaining question is whether we will follow Him completely, releasing our grip on the familiar and launching out into the deep.
The Wind Is Blowing
A kite does not rise by standing still. You find the wind, you face it, you run headlong into it, and holding on for dear life. Acts 2:2 describes the arrival of the Holy Spirit as a violent, rushing wind. The early church caught that wind and ran, and what was born in those moments changed the world forever.
That same wind is blowing. The question is whether you will open your hands, release what you have been clinging to, and let it carry you into the wild frontier God has prepared.
The runway is right in front of you. It is time to soar. iiiiiiii yi yi!
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