RESTORING THE RISK TAKER IN ME. By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
Numbers 13:30-33

OBSERVATION
Few weeks ago I had the privilege to sit down for lunch with the head of the intelligence agencies in Hawaii. We talked about this passage of Scripture and from his perspective, he shared very important insights. Good intelligence collection is about decision support. Good reports help to suspend critical disbelief in decision making. The assignment of Moses' spies was to report, but they included their decision in their report. Their report was true and accurate, but their conclusion was faithless and demoralizing. They took upon themselves an assignment that wasn't theirs. Decision making was the responsibility of Moses, not theirs. They lost objectivity and they spread discouragement all around the camp. They wanted to manipulate the decision according to their opinion. Lack of objectivity kills hope, faith, creativity and innovation. They were certainly punished accordingly and they died before entering the Promised Land.

As a contrast, we can see Joshua and Caleb with a different attitude about the situation. They don't change the data, but they change the approach. They were cautious, yet they were risk takers. They were prudent and realistic about the situation. But they realized that the solution was not about retrieving, but about building an army. Their approach was according to the possibilities of God, not according to the possibilities of men.

APPLICATION
We need to resist the temptation to collect data as decision points. We cannot manipulate the decisions according to our fears. We need to be sober and realistic, but not according to our expectations and experience. We need to trust in the Lord to do miracles in the midst of our disadvantages.

During the tough economic times our nation is going through, we can easily fall in the mind trap that the 10 spies were into. We can be very accurate in our assessments, but very off in our attitude and strategy. The bottom line is to hear what God says, to trust in His promises, and to be risk takers, without being reckless. This is certainly a season to make tough decisions, and to move forward pleasing God, not people.

During the last three months, as we have been planning for the economic downturn, I fill like we have been playing safe too much. There is no risk in the way we are setting things up. We are not following vision. We are making decisions according to worldly and human patterns, not according to divine and godly patterns. We are looking at what we have in the bank to determine the direction we must follow, rather than hearing God and believe for His provision to do whatever He wants. I believe that there is a way to accomplish both: to be responsible stewards, and to be visionaries and risk takers. I need to help my leadership team to see these economic times with the eyes of Joshua and Caleb. We may not have the army yet, we may not have the resources yet, but we have God's instruction for our lives and we need to obey God above all things. These are not times to retrieve and play safe, but times to be courageous and full of faith and trust in God's promises for our church.

PRAYER
Dear heavenly Father, I just want to follow your ways. In the past, I have always risked everything to follow your instructions. I have applied the same pattern to our ministry in Hawaii. Every time we risked it all for You, You never disappointed us. Why is it that now we want to play it safe? Certainly it seems that the more we have the harder is to risk it all. But I don't want to downgrade my heart and attitude. Please restore unto me the spirit of Joshua and Caleb. Help me to convince my team to be risk takers, to be willing to loose it all for the sake of following you. If You want us to retrieve and let our cash flow to determine our direction, then so be it! But I feel that You want to challenge our faith and human strength. We ask our congregation constantly to bring everything to the altar, but also, as the leaders of the church, we must be willing to bring everything to the altar. Guide me during this times! I want to follow You and Your promises for our church, not numbers, not opinions of men. I love you Lord! Help me to be bold and courageous during these times! Amen!