Trained and Alert

Frederick Russell Burnham lived at a time of great exploration, development, and conflict. Born in 1861, his personal experiences brought him from his birthplace in Minnesota to assignments throughout the United States, Mexico, and Africa. What particularly distinguished Burnham was his skill as a scout, for which he became world famous.

Burnham learned these skills as a young man from seasoned trackers, who taught him the importance of details. How small errors and careless moments could be fatal. Why everything needed to be done precisely.

He learned to recognize details most people would miss. He could trail a horse for hundreds of miles, and follow human footprints, even after the tracks had been covered up. He could detect the timing of events days later, knowing when things happened.

Trackers became attentive to everything around them. Every animal sound and movement meant something. They paid attention to the gestures of horses, and studied spider cobwebs, ant nests, and grass. Nothing was lost.

Many people doubted that this level of sensitivity was even possible. But Burnham would learn that this was not just possible but essential, and the key to being aware of danger, and finding the right way.

Believers need this kind of training in the spiritual realm. We are to be sensitive to the Spirit, realizing that He leads us “into all truth,” teaches us “everything,” and tells us about the future.

We are to know the Bible for it was written to warn and prepare us. We need to learn from other Believers, and be trained in godliness, that we might know how to live, and what to do.

And we need to be people of prayer, perpetually seeking God, crying out for guidance and wisdom.