We Are Well Able

A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. One sends back a telegram saying, SITUATION HOPELESS STOP NO ONE WEARS SHOES
The other writes back triumphantly, GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY STOP THEY HAVE NO SHOES.

Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander, The Art of Possibility

Moses sent twelve “spies” (or scouts) to explore the land of Canaan and report back to the children of Israel. Specifically, he asked them to find out:

1. How many people live there?
2. Do they live in tents or in cities?
3. How fertile is the land? Are there lots of trees?
4. Bring back some fruit.

All twelve presumably saw the same things, but their interpretation of what they saw placed them in two opposing camps. Joshua and Caleb described “an exceedingly good land … which floweth with milk and honey” (Numbers 14:7-8). They said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30). But the other ten saw something different. “The people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled,” they reported. “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we” (Numbers 13:28, 31).

Unfortunately, bad news and bad predictions often elicit a stronger reaction than good ones. The children of Israel overwhelmingly sided with the ten pessimistic scouts and rejected the encouraging message of Joshua and Caleb. “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!” they cried (Numbers 14:2). As a consequence, they remained in the wilderness for forty years, until that generation had been replaced by another with the courage and resolve to enter their promised land.

Ammon and his brothers faced similar skepticism as they prepared to preach the gospel to the Lamanites. As Ammon later reported, their friends asked, “Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning?” In contrast, the Lord comforted them with these words: “Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success” (Alma 26:24, 27). The outcome was miraculous. Thousands of Lamanites were converted to the gospel, even being willing to give up their lives for their newfound faith (Alma 26:31-32).

When we encounter challenges, we can respond with statements of fear like the ten scouts, or with statements of faith like the two. Our success in overcoming those challenges with God’s help will depend on which of those statements we believe and act upon.

Today I will view my challenges with hope. I will recognize the positive signs, keep the negative ones in perspective, and trust God will help me succeed in achieving worthy goals.