Faith Over Fear

Genesis 3:1-10 (NLT) The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made.  One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat.  God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced.  So she took some of the fruit and ate it.  Then she gave some to her husband… 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.  So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid.  I was afraid…” 

-being alone -rejection

-being abandoned -not measuring up

-not being in control -failure

-surrender -becoming sick or dying

-commitment -losing someone

-change -not knowing our purpose

-lack of money -missing God

“Fear is one of the greatest killers of a person’s destiny.”

Numbers 13:1-2 (NKJV) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”

Numbers 13:17-21 (NKJV) ”Go… 18 and see what the land is like:  whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds, 20 whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not.  Be of good courage.  And bring some of the fruit of the land.” 21 So they went and spied out the land… 

Numbers 13:27-33 (NKJV) ”We went to the land where you sent us.  It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants…and we were like grasshoppers in our sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Numbers 14:2 (NKJV) “If only we had died in this wilderness!”

Numbers 14:7-9 (NKJV) “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us.  Do not fear them.”  

Numbers 14:28 (NLT) Now tell them this:  ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness!

Numbers 14:36-38 (NLT) The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the Lord with their bad report—37 were struck dead with a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive. 

Joshua 1:6-7 (NLT) Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. 

1.  Would they listen to the voice of fear or faith?

• Fear is a poor leader.

Numbers 13:32-33 (NKJV) And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants…and we were like grasshoppers in our sight, and so we were in their sight.”

2.  Their fear was rooted in a lie about their identity.

• Where there is fruit, there is always a root. 

3.  They didn’t realize fear always comes with a price.

Genesis 26:7-9 (NLT) When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.”  He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.”  He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.” 8 But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah. 9 Immediately, Abimelech called to Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife!  Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’”  “Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.

4.  Fear caused them to forget what God had done in the past.

We need to… 

-listen to the voice of faith.

-know and believe what God says about our identity.

-pay the price of surrender, rather than suffer the cost of fear.

-consistently remind ourselves of what He has done.