Fear Not!

See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 1:21)


Thoughts

Before reaching the promised land, the Israelites after being freed from Egypt would not necessarily have had to go through the desert 40 years. In fact, Sinai and the promised land were only 11 days apart (Dtn 1:2). What went wrong was that Israel ended up not wanting to go into the promised land after all - and the reason was fear.

At Kadesh Barnea, the last stop before the promised land, God gave the Israelites these encouraging words: "See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged." There was the open door, there was the fulfillment of all the Israelites had been waiting and praying for for years.

But the Israelites didn't feel so sure about it, and sent spies into the country to check it out - which wasn't wrong in itself, since Moses okay-ed it (Dtn 1:23). What was wrong was what the Israelites did with the information that came back. They didn't pay attention to the good news ("It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us." v.25) but only to the bad news: namely, that there were giants and armies and fortified cities (v.28).

Had they forgotten God's words just before? "Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged." God knew exactly what was waiting for them there. Moses repeats God's comfort and promise in v.29-31: "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." Danger is there and it is real - but God is also there. Moses reminds the Israelites of God's help in the past; this past help should give them faith for the future.

But Israel did not want to trust God (v.32) - and by looking more at their fear and at the danger before them, than at God and all He had done in the past and all He was able to do for the future, they abandoned faith for fear. And that is why God did not let any of that generation enter the promised land, but sent them back into the desert for 40 years again (v.34-35). They had to go through a learning process before they could try again, the next time with more faith in the God who promised to fight with them and for them.

The Israelites did repent at this news - but they reacted wrongly. They decided to go in and fight after all, and they were beaten, because God was not with them. (v.42) Because the thing is, God does not want fearlessness but faith.
Fearlessness means ignoring the danger and thinking we can do it: like the Israelites who despite God's warning ran straight into defeat when they decided to fight without Him.
Faith means realising the danger is real, but trusting in God to overcome it.

So where we have an open door before us, let us not disobey out of fear or lack of faith, or out of reckless fearlessness that tries to do everything alone and without God. Let us instead trust in God, who is greater than any danger before us.
"Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."



Prayer

From Treasures-Of-Wisdom
www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/…
Let us please pray over this situation and over what we or others can, in Christ, do about it.

Please pray for the situation in Iraq. Pray for God's protection over the Christians there, pray for peace and an end to the violence, and pray for wisdom for the government leaders involved - that they will seek peace and not selfish interests as has too often been the case. God is sovereign even when we humans keep messing everything up with our wars.

Check out this article about a Christian Palestinian family near Bethlehem whom Israeli settlers and military are trying to drive from their land: www.bbc.com/news/magazine-2788…
Praise God for Palestinian Christians like this family who hold on to non-violence and who are a witness to peace in such a torn country. Pray for protection and that they can keep their land, and for an end to the unjust settlement policy that is driving many Palestinians off their land and ignoring their rights. Pray for peace in Israel/Palestine and a solution that recognises the needs of both Israelis and Palestinians, and that the governments and the people truly strive for peace.

Xinjiang is a province of China home to the Uyghur minority group. Take a look at this vid for a simple summary of what's going on there: www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27…
The relationship between the (communist) Chinese government and the Uyghurs is pretty strained, and ever again it boils over into violence, e.g. recently in an attack on a police station with 13 killed. Please pray for peace, for the Chinese gvt to have wisdom how to respond, and that the Uyghurs will be better treated, their rights and needs more respected.
You can find more things to pray here: www.30-days.net/muslims/muslim…

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

If you have prayer requests, or see something in the news you think we should pray for, leave a comment or send a note!



GOD BLESS!