— DAY 9 —

TUESDAY 11 AUGUST, 2026

 

SEEING WHAT GOD SEES

 


SETTING THE SCENE
When Moses sent twelve leaders to scout the Promised Land, they all saw the exact same things. They saw the massive walled cities, the giant warriors, and the incredibly rich fruit of the land. But when they returned to report to Moses and the camp, their perspectives were completely divided. Ten of the leaders could only talk about the problems. They were overwhelmed by the obstacles and spread fear throughout the entire camp. But Caleb and Joshua looked at the exact same landscape and saw God's promise. They chose to see the positive potential rather than just the negative problems.

 

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES

Numbers 13:30 (NLT)
"But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. 'Let’s go at once to take the land,' he said. 'We can certainly conquer it!'"

Numbers 13:31-33 (NLT)
"But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. 'We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!' So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites."

Proverbs 29:18 (NLT)
"When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful."

 

COMMENT
As a leader, you are trained to spot problems. It is part of your job to notice when a system is broken, when a team member is struggling, or when a Sunday morning plan is falling apart. Identifying issues is a necessary skill. But if you are not careful, that critical eye can easily turn into a cynical heart. You can become a leader who only sees the giants and the walled cities, completely missing the abundant fruit God has placed right in front of you.

The ten fearful spies were not lying. The giants were real. The walls were high. The problems they saw were completely valid. But their fatal flaw was letting the negative realities blind them to the spiritual truth. They forgot to look at the situation through the lens of what God had promised.

As a downhill leader, you must understand a critical spiritual reality, spirit flows down. How you choose to view a situation sets the exact spiritual climate for the team following you. If you do not approach your ministry with faith and get God’s perspective first, your team will never see it either. When you only focus on what is wrong, you end up spreading a bad report, and negativity is highly contagious. It drains the faith, vision, and momentum of everyone around you.

The leader has a strict responsibility to help the team see God's perspective, but you cannot give away what you do not possess. You have to see it first. Sometimes, shifting your perspective is as simple as pausing and taking the intentional time to ask God, "What do You see here?" When we get His perspective, our own perspective changes instantly. We stop staring at the giants, and God becomes bigger.

Choosing to see the positive is not about ignoring reality or pretending problems do not exist. It is a deliberate, faith-filled choice to believe that God is infinitely larger than the issues you are facing. When you actively choose to celebrate the good, speak life, and anchor your team in God's perspective, you change the entire atmosphere. You become a leader who builds faith rather than one who breeds fear.

 

PRACTICAL WAYS TO LEAD WITH GOD'S PERSPECTIVE

  • Pause and Ask First: When a crisis hits or a problem arises, do not react out of frustration. Pause, take a moment in prayer, and explicitly ask, "Lord, give me Your perspective on this before I speak to my team."

  • Magnify God, Not the Giants: In your team meetings, change what you give weight to. Acknowledge the challenges, but spend far more time talking about God's promises, His track record, and the opportunities ahead.

  • Filter Your Words Downward: Recognize that your team is watching your face and listening to your tone. Intentionally guard your speech so that you are filtering faith, hope, and vision down to those you lead.

  • Celebrate the Wins Aggressively: Force your eyes to look for the abundant fruit. Go out of your way to find what is working well in your ministry area and highlight it publicly to your team.

 

THE PERSPECTIVE SELF-ASSESSMENT
Pick the number that best describes where you feel you’re at right now. Wherever you are, pray about what might be your next step to move forward.

  1. Chronically Cynical: I almost always spot the negative first and filter that frustration straight down to my team. I frequently complain about what is broken and let the giants dominate my conversations.

  2. Problem Focused: I want to be positive, but the daily challenges weigh me down. I spend most of my energy putting out fires, and I forget that my lack of faith is draining the momentum of the team.

  3. Growing in Faith: I am learning to catch myself when I start focusing on the negative. I am intentionally trying to take time to ask for God's perspective before I pass a report down to my team.

  4. Faith-Filled Visionary: I see the problems, but I do not let them define reality. I consistently take time to get God's view, speak life, celebrate progress, and ensure my team sees how big God is.

 

ACTION POINTS

  • The First Five: Give God the first five minutes of your day in silence before checking your phone, asking Him to give you His eyes to see the positive potential in your ministry today.

    1. The Good Report: Find one thing that is going incredibly well in your ministry today and intentionally tell your team about it. Spread a good report downward.

    2. The Perspective Shift: The next time you face a frustrating issue today, stop before you speak. Take 30 seconds to ask God for His perspective, and respond to your team from that place of faith.

 

MAIN QUESTIONS
(Self Reflection)

Let’s Talk in the Chat
(on the Boot Camp group in Planning Center)

One of the best parts of this journey is that we aren’t doing it alone. We’d love for our chat to be a place of real connection. As you go through each day, please jump in and share:

  1. Self Reflection: What did the test reveal to you today?

  2. God’s Voice: What is one specific thing you feel the Holy Spirit is whispering to your heart?

  3. The Wins: Did you do the First Five minutes of silence? Tell us about it!

  4. Seeing the Positive: Why does our perspective as leaders have such a massive impact on the faith of the team under us, and how can we practically make God bigger than our problems this week?


Please Read:
Don't worry about sounding 'spiritual' The most encouraging thing you can share is your honest process. This is a self-reflection about what God is speaking directly to you about in YOUR life. Words like “I” and “Me” are encouraged, “we” and “us” less so.

 

PERSONAL PRAYER STARTER
"Lord, I’ll be honest, I easily get bogged down by the problems around me, and I forget that my lack of vision impacts the people I lead. Forgive me for the times I have let the giants look bigger than You and spread a bad report to my team. Give me the faith of Caleb. Help me to slow down, take the time to ask for Your perspective, and lead my team with hope, faith, and joy. Amen."

 
REGISTER COMPLETION OF DAY 9