Immune to fear

Day 41: Believing God’s Promises

God pledged to Israel that He would give them a land flowing with milk and honey. He promised them a good and spacious land where they would enjoy security and have rest from their enemies. Indeed, He would liberate them from bondage and personally escort them into the home of their dreams Himself. This was His promise, His “word” to them.  

After centuries of slavery in Egypt, what exhilaration they must have felt when they “heard” this promise. What delight they must have taken in the dream-come true “word” declaring their own country, identity, and freedom. Yet here they were in a desert – no milk, no honey, no safety, no inheritance, no promise fulfilled. Months earlier, as the Red Sea parted before their eyes, God’s promises must have felt so real to them! They must have almost tasted their Land’s fruit and smelled its lilies. But instead: dust, danger, rocks, thirst, serpents, and fears – the desert. God said, “Promised Land,” but then He led them into the wilderness. Instead of entering their glory, they were wandering in a wasteland, battling cruel elements, and scrounging for strange food every morning.  

Israel faced a predicament. The word of God that promised a glorious future now looked absurd in the barren wilderness of shattered dreams. The “word they heard,” instead of inspiring hope through fulfillment, now seemed to hang suspended above them, just out of reach, sneering and jeering at them as they roamed the desert. So, Israel no longer believed “the word they heard.” They rejected God’s promise that they would enter the Land of their destiny!  

Israel was caught in that long, strange tension between promise and fulfillment, between God’s integrity and circumstances that appeared to contradict His Word. But that was the very time they needed to believe! If they would have believed God’s Word amid such crisis, then they would have obeyed it and profited from it. Since they did not believe, they did not obey – and did not receive its benefits. God put them in this situation and watched to see what kind of people He had. When we are faced with circumstances that seem to contradict the promises God has given us in His word, we must choose to believe above all else, He is faithful to His word and to us! We must not allow fear, doubt, or unbelief to set in, because when God makes a promise, it will come to pass!  

Source: (Surviving Your Wilderness, Survival Tip #6: Find Nourishment.)