The number one command in the whole Bible: Do Not Be Afraid (365 times)
While today’s teaching will not cure or fix your fears, anxiety, and worry, let’s work to take some of the sting out of it.
Deuteronomy 1:1-3
These are the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley[a] near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab on the other.
2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai[b] to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. 3 But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month,[c] Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say.
FORTY YEARS LATER!!? WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED!?
Deuteronomy 1:19-22
“Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea, 20 I said to you, ‘You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’
22 “But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’
Why did they want to wait? FEAR
“Fear is the confidence that the worst will happen. Fear is the opposite of faith.”
- Fear and Faith are two opposites of the same thing – confidence
God had told them it was theirs for the taking. Why balk? FEAR
- How often has fear done this to us?
- The girl you never asked out, the job you never applied for, the business you never started, the financial gift you never gave, the risk you never took.
Fear skews reality. It creates a narrative that the worst thing has already happened.
- This is the reason God tells you to let this go above everything else.
- Hebrews 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
- Every person who ever finds peace with God MUST deal with the fear keeping them from trusting Him.
Fear plants a lie in our heart that we believe is true.
Deuteronomy 1:26-28
Numbers 13:27-33
- Fear exaggerates the obstacles
- Fear creates confidence in a conclusion that hasn’t happened.
- Fear tells you that things are worse than they really are
- You get to CHOOSE what you will believe.
Fear believes the circumstances for you are greater than God’s plan for you.
Deut 1:29-31
Here you are, facing the same things you’re going to keep facing for the rest of your life.
- Decide if God can be trusted
- Decide if you will obey Him even when you don’t know how it will turn out.
Romans 8:28
- Doesn’t say God causes all things
- He causes all things to work for your good (if you’re His kid and following His purposes)
APPLICATION:
Does God love you? Does He know what’s next? Is He freaking out? Then should you?
- Your questions isn’t “What’s going to happen next?”
- Your question is “What does God want me to do right now?”
Three questions to help with fear
- What does the Bible say?
- What is God saying to your spirit?
- What do your mentors say?
What you believe will determine how you finish what you’re doing.