By Tope Olotu
The Assignment: Go and See
Imagine sending twelve people to inspect a place you have been talking about for years.
They are not going for a weekend getaway. This is a mission—an important step in their community’s next chapter. They are scouting the land they were promised, taking time to inspect the terrain before the people move forward. The assignment is clear: go, observe, gather information, and bring back a report. They spend forty days looking at the land, its produce, its towns, and the people living there. Nobody is saying, “Let’s just walk in and hope for the best.” They are doing a preliminary site visit first. In today’s language, they are doing due diligence: gathering information, assessing resources, and identifying potential challenges. That is excellent management on display.
It’s a little like going for a medical checkup. We go to understand what’s happening in our bodies and make informed decisions about our health. The results might raise concerns sometimes, but knowing about a concern gives us a chance to respond. The report itself isn’t the problem; what matters is what we do with the information.
In this case, the scouts had a clear assignment; they went out and returned after forty days with observations and evidence. There is nothing wrong with looking closely at the risks. That is part of responsible planning. The question is whether the report helps us prepare for the road ahead—or whether fear turns it into a reason to give up before we begin.
So forty days later, they return carrying fruit so enormous it needs a team effort. Two men are carrying a single cluster of grapes on a pole. Grapes! Not just some casual fruit snack. It’s a whole group project.
The Report Gets Complicated
Everyone wants to hear what they found. So the scouts begin with the good news: the land is fertile. It is flowing with milk and honey, and here is the big fruit to prove it. The fruit is incredible. It is everything they had hoped to see. You can almost feel the crowd leaning in. Maybe someone is already planning what to plant first. Another person may be picturing a garden. Someone else with the business mind is thinking about what to do with all those grapes, whether the grapes can be made into some premium juice.
The mood is hopeful at first.
Then the report changes direction.
The cities are fortified. The people are strong. The scouts have seen “descendants of Anak”, and suddenly the conversation is no longer about grapes.
The good news is still true, but fear has taken the microphone.
The land is abundant, they say, but the people there are powerful. The obstacles look enormous. And in their own eyes, the scouts feel small.
That is how a report can work. It can begin with what is possible and end with a list of everything that could go wrong. And that can be useful. Good risk management asks us to look carefully at the facts. We gather data, examine the evidence, identify what could stand in our way, and make informed decisions. Faith does not ask us to ignore the fortified cities or pretend the challenges are smaller than they are.
But a risk report is only one part of the picture.
The land was abundant, too.
The scouts had seen its fruit with their own eyes. There was evidence of possibility, provision, and promise alongside the evidence of risk. The question is not whether the obstacles are real. The question is whether they are the only reality we are willing to consider.
Caleb speaks up
Then Caleb steps forward.
Picture the room: doubt already fills the room, voices rising, shoulders tightening, the grape cluster suddenly looking less like a symbol of abundance. Caleb quiets the people. At least he tried. He does not deny what the scouts saw. He does not pretend the walls are imaginary or that the people are weak. He looks at the same land, the same cities, the same people, and the same report; and reaches a different conclusion: Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to overcome it.
What audacity!
I wonder where Caleb got that confidence from?
Was he being delusional? My Gen Z folks call it “delulu.” Haha!
Caleb seems to hear the report and notice the room changing. The good news is getting buried under the list of dangers. People are worried, the mood is shifting, and the giant-sized obstacles are taking over the conversation.
So Caleb quiets the people.
That is the moment.
Caleb is not saying, “There are no giants.” He is saying, in effect, “The giants are not the whole story.” The obstacles are real, but so is the promise. He remembers who brought them this far, and that changes how he weighs the report.
The other scouts keep talking. Their fear spreads faster through the camp. Fear travels faster. The people begin to grumble and imagine going back to where they used to live, the place they had cried to be delivered from.
Fear can do that. It can make a familiar hardship look safer than an unknown opportunity. At least back then, they knew what to expect. The future, with all those fortified cities, felt much less predictable.
Joshua Adds His Voice
And Caleb is not the only one who sees another way forward. When the people’s fear turns into rebellion and despair, Joshua joins Caleb in speaking up. The two men tear their clothes in grief and plead with the people to remember what God has promised.
The land is very good, they say. Do not be afraid. The Lord is with us.
Caleb gives the bold first response: let’s go up; we can take the land. Joshua and Caleb then stand side by side and remind the people that the promise is still good and God is still with them.
One voice speaks courage into the first wave of fear; the other joins it when the whole community is close to giving up.
They are not offering a careless “everything will be fine.” They have seen the same fortified cities everyone else has seen. Their testimony is not that the risk has disappeared. It is that fear does not get to erase the promise. Even when the crowd is angry enough to put them in danger, Joshua and Caleb keep speaking from what they believe.
And I find myself wondering: when a difficult report comes in, do we give the whole story a chance to be heard?
So what does this mean to us?
Sometimes we spend so much time measuring the size of the challenge that we forget to assess what else is available to us: the skills we have developed, the people who can support us, the preparation we have done, the resources we can access, and the wisdom we can seek. And for those of us who believe, we also forget God’s guidance and presence.
I do not mean every opportunity is automatically the right one, or that faith guarantees a particular outcome. I think the information we gather can help us make thoughtful decisions without letting fear write the entire report. We can look honestly at the risks and still make room for what may be possible.
Caleb saw the fortified cities. He also remembered the promise. His courage didn’t come from pretending the obstacles didn’t exist. It came from believing they were not the whole story.
The facts are not necessarily made up. The walls really are fortified. The people really are strong. But fear has a way of arranging the facts until the challenge is all anyone can see.
But these two men had another perspective.
They chose to anticipate a different outcome.
As I reflect on Caleb and Joshua’s testimonies, I’m encouraged to choose the side to believe when I hear discouraging reports.
And I hope you can do the same.
Maybe you are starting a business, and someone points out every competitor already doing it. Maybe you are stepping into leadership, and the room is full of reasons the project cannot work. Maybe you are applying for a role, building a team, serving your community, or trying to bring an idea to life, and the feedback arrives like a row of fortified walls.
Some of that feedback may be useful.
Wisdom listens!
We should ask hard questions, gather data, check the numbers, prepare for risk, and learn from people who know the terrain. Faith is not pretending that the work will be easy or that every idea is guaranteed to succeed. A health checkup is not an act of fear; it is a way of being informed. A risk assessment can be an act of stewardship. We can look honestly at what may go wrong and make a thoughtful plan.
Caleb and Joshua show us that the challenge is not the only thing worth assessing. The men saw the obstacles clearly. They simply refused to let fear be the only voice in the conversation.
For those of us who believe, that distinction matters. We can be realistic and hopeful at the same time. We can prepare carefully, act with integrity, seek wise counsel, and still believe that God can lead us into opportunities that look bigger than our current capacity. We can also lean into what the report says about possibility. We can explore what resources are already available, the skills we’ve developed, and the preparation we need.
Our confidence does not come from having every answer. It does not even mean every opportunity will automatically be the right one. Our confidence comes from remembering that we are not walking into the future alone, no matter the outcome. It means we can make informed decisions without allowing fear to write the entire report. We can be realistic and hopeful at the same time. We can prepare carefully, act with integrity, and still believe there may be a way forward. Faith is indeed the substance of things HOPED for. May we never be hopeless.
Perhaps the next faithful step is not a dramatic leap. It may be:
- making the call
- submitting the proposal
- asking for help
- learning the new skill
- taking the training
- carefully writing the business plan
- getting the coach
- seeking mentorship
- speaking to a health professional about improving the blood sugar or cholesterol level
- being more mindful about diet, sleep and exercise in the middle of the health scare
- trying again
- or just staying steady while the outcome is still uncertain
Caleb and Joshua’s courage began with how they saw the report. They saw the challenge, but they did not let it erase the promise.
And so, when the grape cluster is big and promising, but the walls look high with giants on the way, let us remember Caleb and Joshua.
The obstacles can be real, and so can the promise. We can look at the facts, make wise plans, get counsel, get support, and, through it all, let our faith be bigger than our fear.
I also find it encouraging that Caleb had Joshua standing with him. May we have even one person of like-minded faith beside us when we face difficult moments. And when we have to stand alone, may God give us the courage and strength to keep standing!
“Faith is not pretending that the work will be easy or that every idea is guaranteed to succeed. Caleb saw the obstacles clearly. He simply refused to let fear be the only voice in the conversation”
Now let’s pause for TEA!
Thought: A thorough report includes the risks, obstacles, and possibilities. The obstacles may indeed be real, but they are not the whole story. We see the obstacles, and we still believe there may be a way forward.
Encouragement: We can acknowledge what is hard and still look for the next step. We can prepare with wisdom, listen to evidence, and still make room for faith. Faith and preparation can walk together.
Affirmation: My faith is bigger than my fear. I choose to believe the voice of truth!
“Our confidence does not come from having every answer. It comes from remembering that we are not walking into the future alone.”
* This post is inspired by the Bible story from Numbers 13:1–33 and 14:1–9. I read the Bible and draw inspiration from its stories and teachings. Thank you for reading my blog post.
About Me
I am a certified project management professional, a community advocate, a compassionate nutritionist, and a girl deeply loved by God.
I share thoughts, encouragement, and affirmations through my TeaWithTope posts. I also created Teal Nutrition, developing nutrition solutions for individuals, workplaces, and communities.
I am very active in my community, collaborating with others to educate and empower children, youth, young adults, women, and families through the non-profit initiatives I co-founded, including a Christian youth club, Aspire Hub, and an international social enterprise Tiraka, with branches in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Nigeria.
About TEAwithTope: Thoughts.
Encouragements.
Affirmations.
I share bite-sized reflections, personal thoughts, encouraging words, and affirmations rooted in truth through #TEAwithTope, where I invite you to pause and breathe, just like you would over a calming cup of tea.
