Why didn't everyone get to go into the promised land?
As you know, the Jewish people were slaves under Egypt. Through a series of plagues, Pharaoh finally let them go, then pursued them, and his army was destroyed in the Red Sea. After that, the Jewish people had a long trek to the Promised Land of Canaan. There was an extremely high number of times when the people complained, murmured, and argued about their new lives in route. The complained about lack of water, lack of meat, and were just generally acting like two year old kids cooped up in a van on a cross country trip today. "Are we there yet?" is the modern colloquialism that matches much of their trip.
So they finally got to Canaan and God commanded to pick 12 spies two search out the land. As we know, 10 came back with a bad report and two came back with samples of the fruit, an honest assessment that the job would be tough, but that with God they would be victorious.
God was ready to kill all the Jewish people and start over with Moses. Keep that in mind if you're in a van on a long trip! But Moses intervened with God and the decision was made that everyone 20 and older who had murmured against God were destined to die in the wilderness without entering Canaan, and their children who they were afraid would be killed by the inhabitants of the land would instead enter in and possess the land. The two spies who had remained true to God, Caleb and Joshua, got to go into Canaan, and in fact Joshua was appointed to be the new leader of the people because Moses was not permitted to enter Canaan either.
This is what is important about this story: We all have our Canaan to deal with. Maybe it's a land filled with sin. Maybe it's a witnessing field. Maybe it's a workplace or school. Maybe it's a family that isn't Christian. Maybe it's a combination all these things. But God has said it's your country to deal with. He isn't asking you to go alone, and indeed, you will probably not be able to conquer it on your own. Remember in Numbers 14 that when some of the people decided they had come this far and weren't going to die in the wilderness but would go into Canaan on their own, that the Amalekites and Canaanites rose up against them and killed them.
As we look about our Canaan, we may fear that we will never be successful in dealing with it. And alone, if we were to take the spirit of the 10 spies with the evil report, we may refuse to go in, and let fear conquer us. We may leave sin to exist in our life. We may choose not to witness. But that way will end in death for us if a sin issue or possibly for those we might have been the only one who God had as messenger of His word. But that isn't what God wants for His children. Take on the attitude of Caleb and Joshua and declare that the harvest field is white and ready for harvest and that with God's help we are able to do whatever He asks us to do. We can't do it alone, but with God all things are possible. He can help you conquer the sin that besets you. He can make you an effective witness wherever He calls you to be. Trust in Him.