Fear vs Faith: Mind Your Mindset Sýnishorn

Day Two: Mindset Successes

12 scouts go into the land. 10 come back afraid, intimidated, and hopeless. 2 come back full of faith and belief in God’s power. What makes the difference?

When 10 of the scouts come back with a report of big people and fortified cities, Caleb speaks up right away saying, “Let’s go at once to take the land, we can certainly conquer it!” How does he have such a different perspective? How was he not pulled into the same mindset mistakes of the other scouts?

I’m struck that Caleb and Joshua frame the entire experience in the context of a relationship with God. The other scouts leave God out of the equation altogether, forgetting his promise and his power. In Numbers 14:8, Caleb and Joshua say, “if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us.” They know that the Lord is longing for his people to trust him and to put their hope in his power. They know that every challenge the community faces is very much about their relationship with God.

Are we able to hold that perspective in our lives? Do we see challenges as opportunities to lean more heavily into our faith? I think of a time a friend reminded me of this only last week. I was dreading having a difficult conversation with a client, complaining about how badly I expected it would go. Gently, she asked, “how do you think God sees this situation?” I had to reply honestly, “No idea! I haven’t even thought to ask!” I had effectively functioned as if God wasn’t in the picture. My friend’s question rattled me out of my forgetfulness and back into a worldview of faith.

It is critical to have people like my friend, and like Joshua and Caleb, in our lives who help us wake up and remember God in all circumstances. I’m grateful that this story is in the Bible to help us see that we will more often get reports from people like the 10 scouts who slimed the community with their fear and faithlessness! There were only 2 with a Godly mindset! We should expect a similar ratio in our lives too. A mindset of fear and unbelief is far more common than a mindset of faith and hope.

This story stresses the importance of working on adopting Joshua and Caleb’s mindset! When we remember that every challenge we face is about our relationship with God, we are well on our way to achieving that goal. God wants nothing more than to meet us in all our challenges, big and small.