Melted Hearts

Deuteronomy 1:20-31         1/14/2018

Moses recounted the episode when the Israelites sent spies to check out the land. The spies confirmed the quality of the land, but most of them had become convinced that Israel could not displace the inhabitants. The people fainted with fear and subsequently refused to enter into the land.

Remembering the Failure to Enter the Promised Land

Moses reflected on how the Israelite’s fears drove them to disobedience. Of course, we call them fears because that’s common. But modern language has given us the term anxiety – which is probably closer to what they collectively experienced.

Going into battle is an uncertain business. The reality for any warrior is; I may not survive. And that thought – that projection into the future – startles and activates my fear mechanism.

The Israelites were never in actual danger. But the report of 10 spies forced them to imagine going into battle against giants, for which they felt entirely unprepared. Their hearts melted. They disobeyed.

Even though they had seen God destroy the most powerful army in the world with a breathtaking miracle – their imagined doom against the giants invoked an anxiety that bound up their thinking and paralyzed them from acting in faith.

Fear and Anxiety

Fear is appropriate when describing some immediate thing in our environment that could harm or even kill us. Fear is given. We are created with a capacity to fear because it keeps us from engaging in self-destructive behaviors. If there was something really threatening me – like a poisonous snake or a fast moving vehicle – my mind would instinctively know what to do. My body would automatically take action.

Without the capacity to fear real danger, I wouldn’t last very long in life.

But anxiety is a different thing. It’s not fear. It’s maybe more like misplaced fear. It happens when my body’s fear mechanism kicks in even though, in reality, there is no immediate danger. Perhaps I began imagining some terrible thing that might happen in the future. The fear mechanism in my brain can’t distinguish my imagination from the reality. But there isn’t an immediate threat to react against. So I have the fear feelings, but my mind doesn’t understand and can’t make sense of what’s happening. It’s confusion. I feel frustrated because I don’t know how to respond. It’s paralyzing.

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

Trust could have saved a generation of Israelites. We read it in horror. They lamented it with groaning.

So, let’s take the lesson. Get out of the future thought. Even if you’re about to face a giant, know that God is with you. He will be with you in the moment of engagement. He has no rival. He is greater than every adversary. He’s got you – You have nothing to fear.

You actually, really, have nothing to fear.

“Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10