“Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14:4 (ESV)
The people of Israel were unhappy, to put it mildly. When faced with the prospect of fighting the giants in the land God had promised them, they grew frightened and rebelled.
So they cried out, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
After everything they’d witnessed God do for them, the Israelites still questioned His strength and faithfulness. Why? Because: 1/they were afraid of change, 2/their perception of the future was warped by fear.
Fear can have such a powerful influence on us. When we allow it to enter our minds and hearts, it can affect our decisions and, ultimately, our future. That entire generation of Israelites never entered the Promised Land because they chose to listen to the voice of fear rather than claim the power and promises of God.
When it comes down to it, many of us are inclined to react the same way when hardships overwhelm us. In his book, Experiencing God Day by Day, Blackaby states, “We can grow so comfortable with fear that we don’t know how to live without it. As destructive as our sinful habits and lifestyle might be, we may prefer living with the familiar rather than being freed to experience the unknown.”
Are you still stuck in that bondage-is-better-than-change mentality? Are you afraid to leave the familiar in order to step into God’s promises?
Let me share a personal story. During my last year of college (in Switzerland), I fell into a deep and crippling depression. My fear about returning to the United States was so great that my body literally shut down (I grew up overseas, so I had no family States-side and no knowledge about life in America). One morning, I couldn’t even get out of bed.
God eventually drew me out of that pit. He provided a home with a retired missionary couple who had opened their home to missionary kids fresh from overseas. With their help and the friendship of two other missionary kids living in that same home, I was able to slowly integrate into the American culture and establish relationships.
I could have spared myself so much grief back then if only I had realized that God had already gone ahead of me and made a way that went way above and beyond anything I could have dreamt or imagined.
The question I pose today is simple; which voice will you listen to? The voice of fear or the voice of faith? Which voice will win out in the end? I pray you will silence the voice of fear and always choose to listen to the voice of faith.