When sports teams prepare for an opponent they often study their strengths and weaknesses so that they can perform at the highest level possible when they engage in competition.
This study of a team’s strengths, weaknesses, and other relevant tendencies is compiled into what is called a scouting report.
Often the biggest difference between winning and losing is the team’s preparation derived from an accurate scouting report.
In Numbers 13:25-29,32 and Numbers 14:6-9 the Israelites sent out a scout from each of the 12 tribes to survey the promised land:
After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land.
This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces.
But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!
The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.”
So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge.
Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land!
And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey.
Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
When God is with you the scouting report always reveals a path to victory.
Prayer: Lord, today I am facing many obstacles and some of them feel insurmountable. But I know that You are with me and will see me through these trials and Your name will be glorified when I achieve victory.
Action: Of the 12 scouts sent into the Promised Land only two of the scouts (Joshua and Caleb) believed that the Lord would help them overcome any challenge they faced. Are you looking at the problems you face today with the doubt of the 10 scouts or with the faith of the 2 scouts? Take a moment and evaluate whether you or not are viewing your obstacles through eyes of faith or eyes of doubt.
Frank Turner
Frank Turner is the founder of Break Bread, Break Chains and is the co-host of the following podcasts: Defund The Church, Relative Currency, Politically Entertaining, and Christ over Crypto. He is also the founder and creator of the op-ed site Fake News Syndicate.