Turn on the light - I fear the unknown

In today's text, we are catching the story of Israel on their way out of Egypt heading to the land of promise

• They knew where they had came from: THEY WERE SLAVES

• They knew what they were promised: MILK & HONEY

• The problem was they didn't know what all stood between them

Numbers 13:17–20 (ESV)

17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, 18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

Numbers 13:25–33 (ESV)

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then 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 are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Have you ever had to reconcile what God was telling you, with how you felt about it?

• Too hard

• Too big

• I'm not able

• I can't see it

Numbers 14:1–4 (ESV)

1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

When Fear drives your response:

1. Your fear will cause you to prefer a predictable prison over unfamiliar freedom

They were choosing the slavery of Egypt over the promise of God because of the uncertainty ahead

They refuse to go into Canaan because of the fear of the uncertainty

What if you chose to take control of the fear of uncertainty today?

• How would your life change?

- The whole nation is ready to go back to Egypt to return to slavery - 

So Moses and God have a talk - Moses pleads with God not to take them back to Egypt

Numbers 14:20–24 (ESV)

20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

Here's what we see:

• The reason they wouldn't go into Canaan and take the land God promised them was because they were scared of dying

• Through their disobedience to God the only thing that they experienced for 40 years was death.

  • For FORTY (40!) years they wandered in the wilderness until that entire generation died

Here's what we need to understand:

2.Decisions made in FEAR always cost more than decisions made by FAITH

The thing that you use to justify your disobedience will likely be the thing that you ultimately lose

"Obedience failed brings better results than obedience avoided"

I would rather try and fail than to have never tried

This is a New Testament concept, Jesus said:

Luke 17:33 (ESV)

33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

• It is through submission that I learn about the abundance of life

Ultimately, it is the will of God to bring abundance into our lives (John 10:10)

• Not a single person actually says "I don't want that"

  • We make decisions every day that allow fear of uncertainty to steal that from us

Here's how God ultimately responds to their disobedience:

Numbers 14:33–34 (ESV)

33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’

When I let fear control my decisions - ultimately

It delays the blessings of God in my life

God is so good, and He's constantly working to realign us with his will and purpose

• In the meantime, we’re living so far below our potential

• It's because of fear

But, here's what he offers:

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

1 John 4:18 (ESV)

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

We're not trying to be LESS fearful - we just need MORE of his love & His Spirit

God has more for us than a predictable prison!