Joshua 2:10
"For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed."
The children of Israel were at the brink of the Jordan River. Forty years had passed since they were at this point, and now they were ready to go and take the Promised Land.
Just like before, Joshua sent men to spy out the land. As they men toured the land, they saw the bounty that God had for them. Word came to the leaders of the land that there were spies spying out the land, so these men had to hide in the house of Rahab the harlot before they could go back and give their report.
While in the Rahab's house she said to them, "I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you." This was certainly an encouraging report to hear. She wanted her family saved from the impending invasion, and she told these men that the inhabitants of the land were fearful of them.
Moreover, she continued in the verse above and said, "For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed." Hold on! Now she was talking about forty years prior to these spies being in her house. She told them that the land was fearful since the time that God parted the Red Sea.
What this lady said is much different than what the ten spies said to Moses. They said in Numbers 13:28-29, "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. 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." What Rahab painted was a much different picture than what these men depicted. This means for forty years God's power had been wasted. What could have been forty years of God's power being revealed was wasted because of a lack of faith on the behalf of these ten spies.
I'm afraid that we often waste God's power in our lives because of our lack of faith. These ten spies should have trusted God's Word like Joshua and Caleb did, and they would have seen the power of God help them conquer the land. Likewise, our lack of faith in God always wastes God's power being performed in our lives.
The only thing standing between you and God's power working through your life is whether you choose to trust God and step out by faith or to trust your flesh. Christian, God wants to work through your life, but you must obey what He tells you to do. When you forsake the paths that God commands you to walk in to try new paths that seem to be more workable for this day, then you are wasting what God will do through you if you will obey. Always remember what God tells you to do may not seem to be feasible, but He has already done the work for your faith just like He did for Israel forty years prior to them coming in.
Don't waste God's power in your life. Obey Him and what He commands you to do and you will not have to waste years of your life wandering in faithlessness; instead, you can spend those years experiencing the power of God working through you.