On our walking tour of Waterford, an Irish city, I spotted a Japanese ramen house. After several traditional English meals, I suggested a nice break to my husband. Our tour director mentioned that the place was a 10-minute walk from the hotel. I was excited about this!
As we approached dinnertime, I convinced my husband that we should head to the pub across the hotel. “What happened to your ramen suggestion? I was already dreaming about our dinner,” he said. “It’s going to be late after we finish dining. I don’t feel comfortable walking at that time,” I quickly replied. I successfully talked myself and my husband out of our dinner plan, drawing his attention to the street art we saw and the little alleys that possibly posed danger.
Just like our Waterford city tour, Moses sent 12 men, one from each tribe, to explore Canaan. It’s time for them to know more about their promised land before moving in. “See what the land is like and whether the people there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not?” Moses commanded (Numbers 13:17-20, NIV).
The men did their tour for 40 days. And they brought back fruit of the land from their trip, as instructed. They shared this glowing report: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit” (v.27). So far, so good. When Israel takes control of the place, hunger and starvation will not be issues.
But the following news the men delivered dampened their original milk-and-honey statement. “But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan” (vv . 28-29).
What just happened? Ten out of the 12 spies delivered a bleak report. These men didn’t want them to move forward and take the land, as planned. They even spread the wrong narrative to hundreds of thousands more, sowing fear in their hearts, adding, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (vv . 32-33).
It’s interesting how we can spin things in our minds. The 10 spies thought living in plenty would not compare to death in the hands of the giants. They quickly moved on to influence the rest of Israel with scary tactics so that they, too, would feel the same way they do. Now, there’s grumbling and lamenting in the camp, with even talks of a coup d’état. Moses’ job was endangered, as people planned to find themselves a new leader.
After all the hype I made about dinner, I allowed the graffiti and little pathways to work me into a fearful state. Even my husband’s presence could not provide assurance and persuade me to change my mind. Fear made its home within me.
Fear doesn’t take much to make us think of the worst things that can happen. And the more we dwell on these dreaded scenarios, the more we encourage fear to grow within us.
When Moses encountered God and told that he was being sent to Pharaoh to say to him about letting the Israelites go, he immediately replied, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). He didn’t think he was the right person to do the big ask to the head honcho causing the Israelites misery. Moses argued with God about getting out of the job because he feared people's unbelief in his role and task. Plus, he had been hiding in Midian after he killed an Egyptian and hid the body in the sand. Why would he want to go back to Egypt? That right there is fear’s psychological impact.
Then, there is the emotional impact of fear that causes anxiety and panic. Elijah perfectly displayed this when he, after killing Baal’s prophets with the sword, received Jezebel’s death warrant. Elijah feared Jezebel’s threat and ran for his life. Yet he prayed for death in the wilderness, saying, “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life…” (1 Kings 19:4).
How about fear’s physiological impact? When King Belshazzar saw a human finger writing a message on the wall, “his face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking” (Daniel 5:6). And as he called for his wise men to tell him the meaning and they couldn’t, he “became even more terrified and his face grew more pale” (v.8). He must have become uber fearful when Daniel told him of his forthcoming death, a result of his disrespect of God.
And we can’t overlook the fact that we can also be socially impacted by fear. There was Peter following Jesus, who was seized by guards, from a distance on the way to Caiaphas’ house. Peter also sat outside in the courtyard, listening to the trial instead of going to the council and defending Jesus. And when a servant girl recognized him as being with Jesus, he said, “I do not know what you mean” (Matthew 26:70). Peter’s denial of Jesus three times meant dissociating himself from their relationship, even temporarily, for fear of his own life.
Going back to the Israelites and the Promised Land, it was clear that their refusal to take possession of their promised land displayed their lack of faith in the God who brought them out of Egypt and walked with them as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. After Moses's death, Joshua received God's command to lead Israel and conquer the land. The Lord repeated these words to him: “Be strong and courage" (Joshua 1:6,7,9,18). In other words, don’t fear.
In the book of Hebrews, faith in God produced confident men and women who “conquered kingdoms, administered justice…shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames…became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (11:33-34). And throughout the pages of the Bible, we can read stories of those who “were tortured…put to death by stoning…sawed in two…[and] killed by the sword” speak loudly of how faith overcame fear (vv . 35-37).
The words in Isaiah remind us of the importance of constantly looking to God, our Redeemer. God said, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (41:10).
Just as Jesus asked the question, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” to His disciples, He is still asking the same to us, Jesus’ followers (Mark 45:40). Are we going to be terrified of Jesus’ ability to calm our fearful storms, or are we going to ask Him to “increase our faith” so we can overcome our fear (Luke 17:5)? One thing is obvious: We should not let fear in and allow it to destroy our faith in God in the Almighty.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/ Tim Bieber
Luisa Collopy is an author, speaker and a women’s Bible study teacher. She also produces Mula sa Puso (From the Heart) in Tagalog (her heart language), released on FEBC Philippines stations. Luisa loves spending time with her family over meals and karaoke!