"Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan" ~Numbers 13:2
Quick, say reconnoiter five times fast! Could you do it? Neither could I. The word comes from the early 18th century: from the obsolete French 'reconnoître,' which came from the Latin 'recognoscere' meaning to 'know again.' It's where we get our modern-day word reconnaissance from.
Why does the All-Knowing God command princes to scout out their new home when He already knows what's there? These leaders of the 12 tribes (some translations describe them as princes) return 40 days later only to stir up trouble. They tell everyone even though the land is bountiful, it's overrun by a race of giants. "In fact, we looked like grasshoppers compared to them!" (33). The people of God would rather stay in the desert than trust God's promise that the glorious land would be their new home!
Remember, nothing takes God by surprise. He knew they would come back and cause trouble, but He wanted to test their reaction. He wanted to know if they would take heart knowing God was behind them or if they would cower in weakness. Unfortunately, they chose the latter. In the ultimate 'be careful what you wish for,' God tells the Israelites, 'For each day you scouted, you will spend one year stuck in this desert.' That'll teach 'em! And it does teach them, but they choose to learn their lesson the hard way. In fact, that generation passed away before the Israelites entered God's promised land.
Let the Israelites' actions warn us not to spend our life dried out in the desert apart from God's blessings. We especially don't want to spend eternity that way! The Lord wants us to be prepared for the future, but He also wants to see how we react to situations. From God's perspective, the Canaanites were not overpowering giants! "The Lord does not see as man sees" (1 Sam. 16:7). He would not set His people up for an impossible task, and neither will He do so with us! Don't shun and especially don't complain about God's blessings because you may have to work to realize them! The Lord provides for us but not on a silver platter. As Christians, we must work together with Him to achieve His glorious outcome for our lives and community.
The next time you're faced with an "impossible" task, let Jesus's words recorded in Matthew be your mantra: "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (19:26).
Always improve the present moment.
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