Faith Or Fear? — A LifeWords Devotion

Numbers 13:25-30

After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” 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!” (NLT)

The people of Israel are gathered on the far side of the Jordan river. They had been told by their God to cross the river and take possession of what was known to them as the promised land. A small reconnaissance party was sent out. Their report was that it was indeed a good land, flowing with milk and honey.

There was only one problem: a whole lot of fearsome people already lived there! Most of the spying party focussed on that problem. Only Caleb and Joshua saw things differently. They focussed on the fact that God had earlier promised to be with them and have them take hold of the promised land. Agreed, they would meet opposition; it would not be easy. But a promise from God is meant to be taken seriously.

We ourselves often encounter a choice between focussing on the fearful threats, or focussing on the promise of God to sustain us. If we do focus on the promises of God, it does not mean the threat vanishes or that we are in for an easy time. The Israelites taking of the promised land involved many battles.

But a faith focus rather than a fear focus enables us to move forward, to do what is difficult yet right. We are not promised a smooth ride, rather we are promised sustenance. A faith focus prevents us from being paralysed by fear and so missing out on what God has in store for us. Fear has us quivering nervously in the wilderness, far side of the Jordan. Faith has us boldly crossing the river, trusting God to keep his promises.

Blessings,