Have you ever changed your course of action just because it wasn’t the popular opinion?  Maybe you’ve been with a group of friends trying to decide where to go for fast food.  In your heart, you really wanted food from your favorite restaurant, but you gave in to the will of the group and went where they wanted to go.

That’s a trivial example, but we can apply the principle to spiritual things as well.  Sometimes we’re too quick to give up on the ideas and desires God has placed in our heart.  We should learn from the Bible’s account of a man named Caleb.

When the people of Israel were on the verge of conquering the land God had promised them, Caleb was one of 12 spies Moses sent to scope out the territory.  Ten of the spies returned with a negative report that the enemies in the land were too great to fight. However, Caleb and another spy named Joshua returned with a report of faith and tried to convince their people that the opportunities in the new land were too great to pass up.  Unfortunately, the people chose to listen to the spies with the negative report.  As a result, except for Caleb and Joshua, they never entered the land that God had intended for them.

Many years later, after Caleb eventually settled in the promised land, he reflected on his time as a spy and commented that he had brought back word “as it was in his heart” (Joshua 14:7, NKJV).  He spoke what he truly believed, even though it didn’t match up with the others’ opinions. Caleb was different from the rest.

In Caleb’s shoes, it might have been easier to dismiss what was truly in his heart.  Most everyone else believed conquering the promised land was a lost cause. In fact, his people even wanted to stone him for giving the report he did!  You see, it’s not easy to be positive when everyone else is negative.  But Caleb stayed true to his heart and delivered the message he truly believed.

Like Caleb, we should stay true to what is in our hearts.  Don’t let the good things God has planted in your spirit get snuffed out by the bad things being put out by others around you.  God has called us to be strong despite the circumstances around us.  Don’t let fear and insecurity stop you from saying or doing what God has placed in your heart.

We can’t wait for perfect conditions to do what God has told us to do, because perfect conditions will never come.  The conditions weren’t perfect for Caleb either, but he still moved forward with what God put in his heart.  You can do the same!

A lot of good things have been shut down this year because of the pandemic. But don’t let the dream God has placed in your heart be one of them.  Too many times we put off what is in our heart because we think it’s not the perfect timing. But this may be the very time God intended for you to bring forth what is in your heart!

Imagine the great things that would be accomplished if we would just follow through with what God put in our hearts! “Let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).  Don’t lose heart in what God has called you to do!