What Is Your Report?

Two people can see the same thing and give two totally different accounts of it. The accounts can be so very different that you wonder if both individuals actually saw the same thing. For example, if two individuals saw a glass of water, one might say, "My glass is half empty. It's almost gone." While the other might say, "My glass is half full. I have plenty." Another example can be found in the book of Numbers the thirteenth chapter. The Lord told Moses to send some his men to spy out the land of Canaan which he was going to give to them. It was a land that flowed with "milk and honey." He was told to send a leader from each of the Twelve Tribes. Before deploying the men, Moses told them to check out the land and the people. After checking out the land and the people for forty days, they returned home. Upon their return, the twelve all agreed that the land did "flow with milk and honey." That's where their agreement ended, and the negative report began. Ten out of the twelve went on to say that the land's inhabitants were powerful and strong. They said the inhabitants were much stronger than they and thus infected the Israelites with their bad report. Caleb, one of the two who had a good report, said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." The men who had gone with Caleb became instantly enraged. They basically said, "Are you crazy? They' ll kill us. They are a bunch of giants and we're not. We couldn't possibly win against them." That was the beginning of the end. The bad report spread and infected the Israelites. The Israelites became distracted by the giants they saw in the land and failed to remember that the Lord was giving them that land. They were looking at what they couldn't do when they should have been looking to the Lord to see what he would do. Caleb and Joshua, the two who had good reports, attempted to tell the Israelites how great the land was, and that if they obeyed God he would protect them and give them the land. Unfortunately, the Israelites didn't make it into the land at that time. The end result was the Israelites were punished for their disbelief. They were punished for not trusting God. The same God that delivered them from Egypt with miraculous signs and wonders. They were made to wander in the wilderness for forty years, one year for each of the forty days they spied out the land. During this time, every man over the age of twenty would die in the desert except for Joshua and Caleb. The other ten with the bad reports were "struck down with a plague before the Lord." The Lord gave the Israelites a preview of the good land he was going to give them. The land was great! Instead of seeing this great gift that the Lord was giving them, they were distracted by the giants. They allowed the giants to block their view of the land's goodness and the Lord's greatness. The Israelites really should have seen the giants as God's problem, because God was giving them the land. Since he was giving them the land, he would have made the proper provision for them to receive it. God would have dealt with the giants if the Israelites had allowed him . Instead, they grumbled that they couldn't possibly win against them. They never even asked God how they should proceed. What is your report? Will you walk away from your blessing because of giants, or with the Lord's help will you take the land? Will you be like the ten out of the twelve with a negative report, or will you be like the minority,Caleb and Joshua, the two out of the twelve, with a positive report? Remember, when the Lord gets ready to bless you, he will make the provision for you to receive the blessing. What is your report?