It Seemed Like A Good Idea

“Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites.  When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea, I said to you, ‘You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord our God is giving us.  Look! He has placed the land in front of you.  Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.  Don’t be afraid!  Don’t be discouraged!’  “But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us.  They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’  “This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes.  They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it.  They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us.  And they reported, ‘The land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’ [Deuteronomy 1.19-25]

It sure seemed like a good idea.  It could certainly have been viewed as a wise thing to do to send the scouts in to first explore the Promised Land.  The only thing is that is was not exactly what the LORD had told them to do and they did not first check with Him to see if their deviation from the plan was okay.  The rest is famous Bible history.

I don't have to stretch to see the application for this story today: Disobedience breeds fear.  Fear breeds further disobedience.  The cycle of disobedience and fear is disabling.

Father, I have seen this same cycle of disobedience and fear at times in my life.  Help me to break any such cycles going on right now and walk and live by faith... in obedience to You!