A FEAR perspective

It looks like this book is going to be all about the words spoken by Moses to the people before his death. He’s getting his affairs in order. He’s making sure everyone understands the back story and what is expected of them in the future –

These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness….Deuteronomy 1:1

 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.  Deuteronomy 1:3

Moses began to expound this law……Deuteronomy 1:5

The time has come. It’s time to move on. The wait is over.

Go in and take possession of the land…..Deuteronomy 1:8

Moses reminds the people how he appointed leaders and judges from the among the tribes when his burden and responsibility became too great; how he allowed the people to persuade him to send out spies into the land ahead of them; how the people allowed fear to erode their trust in God; how God punished them by not allowing any of that generation to enter the promised land; how the people went into battle against God’s wishes and lost; how they passed through the land of the descendants of Esau with God’s protection; how over time, the entire generation of fighting men who had left Egypt died; how the Lord delivered Sihon king of Heshbon and his people over to the Israelites; and Og king of Bashan and all his army; how the Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh reached an agreement to settle on this side of the Jordan; how Moses had pleaded to be allowed to cross over into the promised land; and how God had said no.

OK, so that’s the back story. That’s how Moses and the people of Israel had got to where they are standing now. What really stuck out to me as I read these three chapters is the role of another significant player – an ever-present character that changed hearts and influenced the path of the journey: FEAR

Here is the story from a FEAR perspective:-

• to the newly appointed judges – Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Deuteronomy 1:17
• before entering the promised land (the first time) – Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 1:22
• on hearing the report from the spies – Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear.  Deuteronomy 1:28
• in response – Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.  Deuteronomy 1:29
• on passing through the territory of Esau –  They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.  Deuteronomy 2:4
• on approaching Sihon, king of Heshbon – This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven.  Deuteronomy 2:25
• on facing Og, king of Bashan – Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands.  Deuteronomy 3:2
• to Joshua on contemplating the unknown – Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.  Deuteronomy 3:22

Fear can stop us from living life to the full. Fear can stop us from being the best we can be. Fear can stop us from entering into the wonderful things that God has in store for us. Fear can kill our hopes and dreams. Fear holds us back.

Some fears are irrational. We know that they are unfounded, but we cannot seem to shake them off. Phobias accompany us everywhere and rob us of joy and fill us with anxiety.

Some fears are more rational. Something awful has happened and we live in fear that it may happen again. We hear other people’s horror stories and live in fear that it may happen to us. our overactive imaginations create scary scenarios of the dangers our child could be facing. Our insecurities feed our fears and can make us scared to enter a room full of people.

Yesterday evening, my husband posted this on Facebook –

Fear is one the most debilitating issues for people to overcome. So much fun to be had but fear keeps him firmly in his seat. Makes me sad.

He was talking about our boy Jordan. Jordan carries a whole bunch of fears with him everywhere he goes. He always has to sit on the ‘non-spider side’ in the car because once a spider landed on him. He’d rather not go out in the car at all. In fact, he’d rather not go out at all. He will not go upstairs unless there is someone up there. In fact, he’d rather not go into any room in the house alone. He will not sleep in his own room when Keir is in the house. So he sleeps on our floor. He will not attend after school clubs or join a team. He will not hold the dog’s lead for fear of letting go.

He is 13. And he is held back by fear. So much fun to be had but fear keeps him firmly in his seat.

And it breaks our hearts.

And it makes us scared for him – for his present and his future. And it makes us frustrated that he won’t respond to rational argument (and that we don’t even get to sleep -etc! – without a child in our bedroom).

He’s scared. And we are scared for him. Like most parents, we are scared for all of our children pretty much all of the time. We love them so much that we cannot bear to think of the dangers out there. Our instinct is to protect. We find it hard to trust our kids to make the right decisions. We find it hard to trust God to protect them for us. Our kids are going out into unknown territory and it scares us.

And of course, we have all our own fears to face for ourselves too. Some of us struggle with terrible debilitating phobias. We feel like a fool and resent the hold these phobias have over us, but cannot shake them off.

Fear holds us back. So much fun (and opportunity and challenge and happiness) to be had but fear keeps us firmly in our seats.

Let’s leave it there for now. Let’s have a good think today about how fear affects our lives.

What are we afraid of?

How important a role does fear play in our story?

What is fear stopping us from doing?

And tomorrow, we’ll see if God can make any difference.