“Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified; do not be afraid
of them. The Lord your God, who is
going before you, will fight for you as he did for you in Egypt, before your
very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father
carries his son, all the way you went until your reach this place. In spite of this, you did not trust in
the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and
in a cloud by day to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way
you should go. When the Lord heard
what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: ‘not a man of this generation shall see the good land I swore
to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and
his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord
wholeheartedly.” Deuteronomy 1:
29-36 NIV
The biggest obstacle to following God is fear. As a matter of fact, it is impossible
to follow God and join Him in pursuing His mission when fear is holding our
heart captive. Fear causes us to
doubt and to question whether God is really able to accomplish what he has
called us to join Him in do! This
is the reason why here in the beginning in Deuteronomy and throughout the rest
of the book of Deuteronomy and on into Joshua God keeps reminding His people
and leaders to not be afraid and to not be terrified. When people focus on the object of terror they have in
essence removed their eyes off of God who is able to overcome whatever it is
that brings that terror.
