God always has expansion on His mind for you. He desires to expand your vision, to increase your finances, your business, your ministry, and your influence! He wants you to receive that new promotion on your job, to close lingering business deals, to break out into new territory in your business and ministry, and to use your influence to win more souls for His Kingdom.
When you think of the word—EXPAND, you should see bigger, higher or a spreading out of some kind. To be positioned to EXPAND and move into all that God has planned for you, you must be willing to BELIEVE what the Word of the Lord says regarding your situations and circumstances despite what they look like. You must be bold enough to operate in faith and believe in God’s ability to get it done through you!
Joshua and Caleb are good Biblical examples to think about when BELIEVING God’s Word despite what you may see, hear, or feel. Let’s look at what happened when God told the children of Israel, including Joshua and Caleb, that He had expansion on His mind for them. In Numbers 13:1-3 the Lord said,
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, [2] Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. [3] And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.”
Moses received the Word of the Lord and sent men to spy out the land
that God had given them. In Numbers 13:26-29, the scripture says, after the men searched out the land of Canaan for 40 days they all came back with a negative report regarding the land, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua.
And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. [27] And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. [28] Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. [29] The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
The men reported to the leaders of Israel and to the congregation everything they had seen. They said the land was good just like God had said it would be, BUT they also said GIANTS were in the land. As a result, the people went into an uproar and were very upset. So much so, that Caleb had to shout out to the people to hush and be quiet.
However, Caleb said in Numbers 13:30b, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” But, as soon as Caleb made this statement, the other men on the team with an exception of Joshua, said: [31b] “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we … [32b] The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. [33] And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
What happened? Everyone on the traveling team had heard the Word of the Lord, heard the promise of God, and saw the same things, but they came back with a different report. How is that? The difference was what they BELIEVED about God and themselves! The men did not believe that God had the power to deliver or make good on His promise because of the giants that were in the land of promise. What did the giants have to do with what God said? NOTHING! What the men believed about themselves and how they saw themselves caused them to lose faith when they perceived the giants were greater than God and His ability to work through them. They had forgotten about ALL the miracles that God had done for them and their ancestors; they forgot that God is the God of BATTLES! Exodus 15:3 says, The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.
However, Caleb and Joshua were not moved by what they saw; they saw the giants too! Nevertheless, because they had a right perspective of “God’s words” and “His ability” to work through them to take the land promised to them, they said, “SO WHAT!”, our God is more than able to give us this land despite the giants! Allow the faith and courage of Caleb and Joshua to be a shining example to you.
God has expansion on His mind for YOU too! So, don’t be like the unbelieving men who spied out the land of promise. Rather, make certain that you have the proper view of yourself, God’s word, and His ability to work through you to accomplish His will for your life.
God has it all figured out. Trust Him when He tells you to take a leap of faith and go into your land of promise. Take a LEAP in FAITH knowing that God is more than able to bring to pass what He promised you!