God's Antidote To Fear

“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said,

‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it!’”

(Numbers 13:30 NIV)

Caleb was a strong leader along with Moses and Joshua. He had seen God move on behalf of Israel in several critical situations. Here he rises to give counsel to the people regarding their moving ahead with the destiny that God has for them. Twelve spies had been sent out to look at the situation of the land that God had promised they would inherit. Ten of them came back with a negative report about the giants while Caleb and Joshua were the only two that presented a positive report. The ten spies acknowledged the good in the land but were more focused on the obstacles, namely the giants, which filled them with fear. Caleb, now at 85 years of age, with boldness stands to declare “We can certainly do it!” What makes the difference between the ten and the two?

Caleb is not full of fear, but full of faith. It is obvious that Caleb’s deduction was that if God has promised this inheritance and destiny to us then God, being bigger than any giant or obstacle, is worthy of our faith in Him to see it become a reality. There are giants that would seek to prevent our destiny, including fear. The way to overcome our fears is to follow Jesus in faith. Our faith is what allows us to enter the future – not with a question mark – but with an exclamation point!! Faith is what allows us to declare in confidence that God is with us no matter what happens. We are certain that God is for us and certain that He has our best interests at heart.

Through faith we know that God is working all things for our good if we love God and are following the commands of Jesus (Romans 8:28) If you are a believer, the Bible tells us that all things are working for good – not that all things are good – but working together for our good and the glory of God. Do we really believe that there is no difficulty, defeat, or disaster in the life of a believer that God can’t ultimately get some good out of? If we do then we must ask ourselves “What is there to fear?” The answer is nothing!! Our future is in His hands and we can be at peace!!. When you look at the future what do you see? Do you look with eyes of doubt? With eyes of cynicism? With eyes of expecting the worst? Our text, and the context that it lies in, makes it clear we have two choices about our future – facing it as a cynic, a doubter and full of fear, or quit looking at the bigness of your giants and look at the greatness of your God. Paul said, “If God be for us who can be against us?” We need to look at the future, look at God, and then with Caleb say “We can certainly do it!” A

s I write this devotional an old chorus comes to mind that I hope will inspire you. The words say….

My Lord knows the way through the wilderness, All I have to do is follow

Strength for today, is mine all the way

And all that I need for tomorrow

My Lord knows the way through the wilderness, All I have to do is follow

“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on Me, When you come and pray to Me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for Me, you’ll find Me. Yes, when you get serious about finding Me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed!”

(Jeremiah 29:11-12 The Message)