Is Fear Holding You Back?

April 26, 2023

I want us to look at what happens when we see with eyes of fear,

rather than with eyes of faith. A good example of this is in the Old

Testament in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 13 and 14.

Here is the background of Numbers 13-14; Moses has led the nation of

Israel to freedom. He's got them free from Pharaoh and the Egyptians;

they've crossed the Red Sea. They've been traveling for about two years,

from Egypt, and they're coming up to a place called Kadesh. At Kadesh,

they're getting ready to cross the Jordan and go into the Promised Land.

This is the land that has been promised to them for 400 years.

When they get up to the edge of the water, before they go in, twelve

spies are chosen by Moses and they are sent in to go visit the land.

When they come back, they give a mixed report. Two of the spies say,

"It's incredible. It's ready for our taking. God has given us truly the

Promised Land." Those two spies were named Joshua and Caleb. The other

10 spies come back and said, "Yeah, it's a great place, but…" and they

have a whole list of problems on why they can't go in. They're not

seeing with eyes of faith, they're seeing with eyes of fear.

And because they failed to see with eyes of faith, that entire

generation missed God's purpose for their life in God's will. In our own

lives, what happens when we see with eyes of fear, instead of with eyes

of faith?

Here are five…

1. We exaggerate our DIFFICULTIES.

In the story, God has just delivered them from Egypt, the most

powerful nation in the world and now they're worried about some local

tribe. They've just defeated Pharaoh and now they're worried about

somebody else.  

How quickly we forget. When we look at our problems with eyes of fear, they get bigger.

Numbers 13:31-32 “We

can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” So they

spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we

traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live

there. All the people we saw were huge.”

The majority report of the spies was negative. Only two of the spies

have faith, Joshua and Caleb. Here's the problem – negative attitudes

are contagious. When they walked up there to the edge, everybody was

excited about going into the Promised Land. It was only when 10 come

back and said, "We can't do it," that everybody changed their mind and

they began to get infected with a negative attitude.

2. We UNDERESTIMATE our own abilities.

Numbers 33:13 Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

They have been slaves for 400 years, they have been freed for 2, but

they're still mentally enslaved and they still see themselves as

helpless and they still see themselves enslaved. They're enslaved not by

a Pharaoh now but by an idea, by an image, by a self-concept.

We overestimate the problem and we underestimate our abilities. Third thing that happens when you see with eyes of fear…

3. We get DISCOURAGED.

Numbers 14:1 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.

They had a giant pity party. “Poor us!” Now they're crying and weeping because they don't get to go into the Promised Land.

What's keeping them out? Their fear. They're not living by faith. We

get discouraged. Then quickly, we move to number 4 and that is, we move

from discouragement to griping.

4. We start to GRIPE about our lives.

We gripe about everything that's going to go wrong in our lives.

Numbers 14:2 Their

voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If

only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they

complained.

First, they cry and now, they complain. We do the same thing when we are looking at our circumstances through eyes of fear.

5. We eventually give up and we BLAME GOD.

Numbers 14:3 Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? …Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?

Notice, they're blaming God for not letting them go in the Promised

Land. God isn't holding them back. It's their fear that's holding them

back. They're second guessing. Now, all of a sudden they're remembering

the good old days of Egypt. Good old days? What's the good old days?

Four hundred years of slavery, why would anybody want to go back to

Egypt? It was slavery, but it was what they knew.

There is no real freedom without taking risks. Safety and freedom are

on opposite ends of the continuum. We're either moving more towards

safety and slavery or we are moving more toward taking risks and

freedom.

What are you looking at with eyes of fear instead of eyes of faith?

God made us to live by faith. Don't live your life in the desert, just

because it's comfortable and it's what you know.