One of the most dangerous phrases in the English language is “I can’t.” When those two words settle into your everyday vocabulary, they can quietly chain you to paralysis. What can you do for someone whose first response to every obstacle is “I can’t”? For every obstacle it is resignation.

This sense of defeat has dogged humanity for centuries, holding countless people back. Consider when Moses sent twelve spies to scout the land God had promised (Numbers 13). When they returned, they reported: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large… All the people we saw there are of great size… We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:27–28, 32–33) Fear drowned out faith.

Yet not everyone spoke that way though. Two of the spies — Joshua and Caleb — stood up and declared a different report: “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” (Numbers 14:7–9).

Where others saw impossibility, Joshua and Caleb saw opportunity — because they knew the power of the Almighty. They believed that nothing is impossible with God. And for that faith, God later vindicated them with victory.

Are you one of those who tremble and balk when faced with an uphill task? Perhaps you have not yet fully grasped the power of the God who is able. Joshua and Caleb’s confidence did not rest in themselves; it rested in the Lord who goes before His people.