Anatomy of a Bad Report

What type of conversation are you having with yourself?

To many, the suggestion that you are talking to yourself may seem kind of crazy but the truth is that each of us talk to ourselves all the time. We are having an inner conversation about our surroundings and circumstances constantly; we usually call the conversation “thinking”.

There is great reward in tapping into the content of that internal conversation because by doing so, we can understand what we are believing about ourselves and our future prospects. We often are not aware of how negative our conversation is until someone points it out to us. Well, if our inner conversation is negative, who is going to point that out since no one can hear it??

Negative internal conversations can affect all three levels of life: our emotions, our physical health, and our spiritual life. We must become more aware of what we are telling ourselves about what is happening and what is going to happen.

When I speak of this, I’m reminded of a story in the book of Numbers.

The children of Israel had been promised an inheritance by God. God told them that the land of Canaan would be theirs. In chapter thirteen, the Lord tells Moses to send spies into the land of Canaan to gather intel about the country and its current inhabitants. This mission was not to decide whether or not God could fulfill His promise but simply a first look into what they were obtaining and how great the victory would be.

The children of Israel began to think about what they saw. When they began to think, they began to evaluate. When they began to evaluate, their faith began to strangulate! The next thing you know, they are bringing back to Moses and the children of Israel a bad report about what was intended to be a blessing for them.

Numbers 13:30-33: Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are able to overcome it.’ But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.’ And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.’

What makes this a bad report?

First of all, it is a report based solely upon emotion. The people allowed fear to take over their hearts and then, they began to make evaluations based upon their fear. In this case, the foundation of their fear was the difference between themselves and their enemies! In their eyes, they were incapable of defeating the inhabitants of the land.

Second, they gave their opinion about something that God had already settled. God didn’t ask them their opinion about what He wanted to do. He simply wanted them to go into the land and bring back intel – period!

Last, but not least, they based their report upon human ability. Compared to the inhabitants of the land, they were unable to do what God told them to do. As stated earlier, this is the foundation from which their fear emerged.

When you and I begin to take a word from God and tear it apart based upon emotion, opinion, and ability, we too will be carriers of a bad report.

A bad report is any conclusion that is contrary to the direction of God!

Has God told you something He wants you to do? Has He given you a promise?

Beware of allowing emotion, opinion, or an estimate of your ability to taint the word of God!

God is not interested in our opinions of His decisions. He is not interested in whether or not we think what He has said is possible. He understands your emotions but they are not a reason to balk at His commands.

Now, I’ll ask again………what type of conversation are you having with yourself? Is it one that contradicts God’s will or is it one that places value upon the power and ability of God?

A bad report is a direct doorway into the wilderness – Don’t even go there!

God doesn’t want opinions. God doesn’t want evaluations. God doesn’t want emotion. God wants obedience and faith in His power.

Stop negative, faithless self talk! Get yourself founded upon the Rock. Those who control this area are given the keys of the kingdom. Those who speak the words of their God will storm the gates of hell and find that hell cannot prevail!