We have entered a moment in history where our faith will be tested in ways this generation has not experienced. We must remove every unnecessary weight from our faith that would weigh us down and prevent us from changing course in a moment’s notice. The coming events will move downhill in history like a snowball gathering momentum and size. Only a mobile faith will be able to get out of the way of what is approaching.

This kind of faith resembles the scouts of the 1800s who were tasked with finding the way forward for a wagon train exploring the American West. Scouts rode on horseback traveling ahead of a wagon train. They were self-contained, able to move ahead of slow and encumbered wagons. Only someone on horseback who knew how to read the lay of the land was able to find the way forward through unchartered territory.

Scouts constantly scanned the horizon as the following wagons moved through clouds of dust only able to see the wagon in front of them. While a scout looked for a way forward, they also looked for signs of danger that would put the wagon train in jeopardy. Scouts made announcements and challenged the foolish fear-based decisions of those in their care who had never traveled a trail that was filled with unexpected jeopardy.

Threats to our faith are aligned along the path ahead. The greatest threat is fear. Fear has a primary role. It wants to displace our faith. Fear can manifest in a variety of ways – division, lovelessness, betrayal and cowardliness, to name a few. These can be mistakenly seen as the primary issues we will face because they are so emotional, but they are only surface indicators of the deeper motivating source – fear. Spiritual scouts will help those who follow in their path to see beneath the obvious to discern what is taking place. Only then can followers make rational choices and stay on the right path.

Faith, not fear, is the only sure way forward in the coming days. Take the path of faith and the Lord will be faithful to reveal the way forward. He will also be faithful to deliver us from the fearful traps set along the trail designed to destroy our faith and bury us in a shallow grave of unbelief.