F.E.A.R.

Simple Truths From Numbers 13:23-14:1-4, 28-30, 44-45

The children of Israel had recently been released from hundreds of years of bondage in Egypt by God. They’ve seen miracles of God with the plagues, with the way the Egyptians gave them the riches they would need to build and furnish the tabernacle, providing manna in the wilderness, water from a rock… time and time again they have seen God’s hand in their lives.

Now God has a new assignment for them: go spy out the land that is to be theirs; the Promised Land that God has promised to lead them through. As we go through the scriptures, we will see how fear affects the children of Israel, and surely we can see how it affects us in our own lives as well.

1. Fear makes our problems seem huge. We can only focus on what we think we can’t do, and how impossible it all seems. And perhaps we even exaggerate our problem so we can justify why we aren’t doing what God has told us to do. (Ah- the giants make us look like grasshoppers! The people are too strong for us!!)

2. Fear makes God seem small, and His promises untrue. God had promised to be with them through the land, and all they would face, but it seems they forgot that. We need to remember that when we are weak, He is strong.

3. Fear makes us forget all that God has done in the past. These people had seen many miracles from God, and yet when they are so close to getting the biggest blessing they would ever receive, they doubt and don’t believe God can do it. They only see the obstacles and not the opportunity for victory.

4. Fear can make us ignore godly counsel. Caleb stood up and reminded everyone that God said He would be with them, and give them victory. And yet, instead of agreeing and believing, the other men were quick to bring up the giants again, and made it worse by saying they looked like grasshoppers compared to them. God sends us people to encourage and confirm the things He has called us to do. We need to be careful not to let fear keep us from listening to those counselors! And we need to be aware of excuses that we are making ourselves that are holding us back from God’s best for us.

5. Our fear affects other people. We can prevent someone else from taking steps of faith because we are afraid of doing what God has called us to do. People are always watching us- are we influencing them for good? Do they see us holding onto God when we face challenges, or are we discouraging people because we are giving up in fear?

6. Fear can make us run back to old things where we were in bondage and without God. The first response of the majority of the people is to run back to Egypt! Back to where they were slaves, where they didn’t have a relationship with God, where they were miserable and abused every day. We can do the same thing. But God tells us that we are not to be entangled again with that yoke of bondage.

7. Fear will keep us from God’s blessings. The people now were not ever going to see the promised land. Their fear of the enemy, and lack of faith had a serious consequence. We never know what huge blessing is waiting for us on the other side of the challenge and test of our faith. When we are overcome with fear, we can’t even imagine the other side of our current challenge. But to get the greatest blessings, we have to walk with God through the hard times, and trust that He will lead us by His power.

8. Fear and pride can cause us to try and prove ourselves, that we truly can obey. The children of Israel know clearly now that they have sinned. And instead of waiting on God and seeing what they should do next, they decide they are going to fight the battle they should’ve done in the first place. Have we ever done the same thing? Have we decided that we would prove ourselves by doing some big thing, even though we know God is not in it? God doesn’t want “heroic” acts. He wants our obedience.

There are two ways we can look at FEAR:
Forget Everything And Run
OR
Faith Erases All Reservations