Faith Over Fear

Have you missed out on your Divine destiny and purpose because of misplaced fears? Have you lost time wandering in the wilderness of aimlessness because you let people influence you rather than let faith in God guide you?

The Israelites wasted 40 years in the wilderness instead of taking the land that God promised them because they were influenced by the fears of 10 men instead of having faith in the promises of God. The 10 reported that they couldn’t take the Promise Land because the people there were stronger and bigger. The 10 said that God’s chosen people were like grasshoppers compared to the people across the river. These 10 men stirred up fear in the hearts of the Israelites and refused to go take the land. They rejected the faith of Joshua and Caleb who also spied the Promised Land and said, “And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Numbers 14:9-10. This proclamation of faith only served to almost get Joshua and Caleb stoned.

Let’s fast forward 40 years. Joshua and Caleb are in charge. They send 2 spies across the river and they meet Rahab, a prostitute, who hides them from the king’s army. She tells them, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” Joshua‬ ‭2:9-11.

This is amazing! And ironic. Rahab reports that these “giants” in her land were utterly terrified of God’s chosen people. They had heard of the great signs that He performed when delivering the Israelites out of Egypt. Their hearts melted, their courage vanished, they were terrified.

This is a lesson for us today.

These pagans had more faith in and fear of the One True God, the God of Israel than the Chosen people had.

Israel put more faith in what they saw and heard than what God had promised. They also forgot all that He had already done for them.

We do that, too. We listen to the wrong voices instead of the One voice, the Holy Spirit (if you are a saved believer in Jesus Christ. If not, your fears are warranted). These voices get us off track, fill us with fear and we let our divine purposes slowly die in the wilderness. We forget all that He has done for us; how He has delivered us, healed us, saved us. Let it not be!

As a believer in Jesus Christ, God has great plans for you. He knitted you uniquely to serve specific purposes that only you can do. There are people He wants to reach that only you can reach. When Jesus ascended and took His place at the right hand of the Father, He gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel…to lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:15-18.

When misguided fear causes our faith to fail we don’t fulfill God’s plans for our lives.

Not only do we suffer, but everyone we could have impacted for God does, also. Every adult Israelite who believed the report of the 10 spies died in the wilderness over the next 40 years. The fate of the 10 was worse. They died by plague immediately before the Lord.

The lesson here is twofold. One, don’t let fear overtake your faith. Remember the goodness and faithfulness of God. Two, don’t be a voice of fear that influences other people. Speak faith. Or remain quiet. The consequences are great.

What voice are you listening to? Fear or faith?

What are you speaking? Fear or faith?