Paralyzing Fear Distorted Israel's Vision
Daily Scripture
Numbers 13:25-33
25 They returned from exploring the land after forty days. 26 They went directly to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Paran desert at Kadesh. They brought back a report to them and to the entire community and showed them the land’s fruit. 27 Then they gave their report: “We entered the land to which you sent us. It’s actually full of milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 There are, however, powerful people who live in the land. The cities have huge fortifications. And we even saw the descendants of the Anakites there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the arid southern plain; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the mountains; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Now Caleb calmed the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of it, because we are more than able to do it.”
31 But the men who went up with him said, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we.” 32 They started a rumor about the land that they had explored, telling the Israelites, “The land that we crossed over to explore is a land that devours its residents. All the people we saw in it are huge men. 33 We saw there the Nephilim (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We saw ourselves as grasshoppers, and that’s how we appeared to them.”
Daily Reflection & Prayer
When the scouts returned, ten focused on obstacles and problems. Gripped by fear, they said they didn’t dare try to take the land. Long before David faced Goliath, they were frightened of the “huge men” they saw in the Promised Land. Those who focused on God’s promise and power and urged people to move forward were a decidedly “minority report.”
- Notice how the ten scouts’ report changed as their fears deepened. At first they said they saw “the descendants of the Anakites”—tall people (maybe 6’4”) supposedly descended from “the Nephilim” (a legendary angel-human hybrid). The second time through, they’d seen “huge men” and the Nephilim themselves in the land! Have you ever been gripped by a fear that kept magnifying a situation’s danger (whether about health, relationship issues, work or money problems, or anything else frightening) beyond what it actually was?
- One man, Caleb, challenged the fear-driven report: “We are more than able to do it.” What kind of inner spiritual compass does it take to speak with courage and hope when everyone else is gripped by fear? Camped at the Promised Land’s border, Israel chose fear over faith—the opposite of living fearlessly. What “frontiers” might God be calling you to cross? What fear does that trigger? How can you grow more like Caleb?
Prayer
Prayer: Lord God, this is such a sad story. Everything you’d promised was in reach—but their fear blocked it. Help my faith and courage keep growing, so that I do not let fear block me from whatever you call me to. Amen.
GPS Insights
Mikiala Tennie
Mikiala Tennie, who serves as the Student Discipleship Program Director with Resurrection Students, wrote today’s Insight. She has nearly 20 years of ministry experience and loves encouraging others in their spiritual journey. Mikiala is blessed to be an adoptive aunt and godmother to many kiddos and lives with her 10-pound Yorkie, KiKi Okoye Tennie.
I have only seen one movie so many times I could probably quote it word for word. I owned it on VHS and later on DVD and I recently watched it on one of the many streaming services available. The soundtrack (on vinyl) has been sitting in my Amazon cart for months because I keep meaning to buy it since it’s not available on Spotify or Apple music. The movie is a millennial cult classic starring the one and only Whoopie Goldberg as Sister Mary Clarence in “Sister Act 2.” You probably thought I was going to name the original, right? But no, the original pales in comparison—eight-year-old me thought so, and I still whole heartedly agree. Who doesn’t love a film where a group of optimistic teachers and a rag tag group of kids come together to overcome immense obstacles?
Watching this movie recently, I had a different perspective than I did as a kid. There’s a scene where the teachers come in and tell the students they’ve signed them up for a choir competition because they believe they can win! And save the school! But immediately, the students balk at the idea and think there’s no way they could even go to the competition, let alone win. They go round and round about all their fears and the reasons that they shouldn’t even try until one student gives an encouraging speech and rallies them to the cause. But once they arrive and begin to see who they are competing against, their spirits falter again. Before they go on stage to perform, their teacher tells them to take off their stuffy choir robes and perform in their street clothes so they can be themselves and let their light shine!
Sometimes, fear can make us want to give up on opportunities, even potential opportunities. It doesn’t take much for us to talk ourselves out of trying new things because it could be nerve-racking, or embarrassing, or the outcome could be different than we hope. Given enough fear, doubt, and time, we can talk ourselves out of jobs, hobbies, new friendships, new cities, new phases of life. But God doesn’t want us to live afraid to step into some of the things that could end up being truly amazing. God is like the teachers in “Sister Act 2,” believing in and cheering for those students, or encouraging them to be comfortable and confident in who they are as they step onto the stage.
Today, I hope that as you pray about the next steps that scare you, or make you a little nervous, God would give you clarity on what to pursue and the confidence to do so!
