Facing Your Greatest Fears

Joshua 11:21-23

When God led Israel to the Promised Land the first time, He had Moses send spies into the land and come back with a report. \r
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This took place in Numbers 13 starting in verse 21. Here's what they said on their return:\r
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Numbers 13:27-29 "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. â?¦\r
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33 "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." \r
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The word Nephilim can also mean "giants" and comes from Genesis 6 where there is an obscure reference to the "sons of god came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men of old, men of renown." \r
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The report was two fold - 1) the land is wonderful in its produce and natural resources. 2) we are afraid of the giant people of the land and so we shouldn't go up. It is this second part that led Israel to rebel against the Lord and spend the next 40 years wandering in the wilderness.\r
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Nearly 50 years later Israel has now faced battle after battle, enemy after enemy, tactic after tactic. At the very end, the last battle for the Promised Land is against that dreaded enemy: the Anakites. Anak had three sons, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai. They lived in Hebron and moved in with the Philistines on the coast. We find that battle in Joshua 11 starting in verse 23.\r
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What I notice about the account of the battle is how sparse it is. It is almost a footnote in the history of the campaign for Canaan. It shows that something had changed drastically from the time Israel first approached the Promised Land to this day. Those changes can give us some keys to facing our own worst enemies; our own Anakites.\r
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What are our greatest fears?\r
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Physical suffering from sickness, or dieing\r
Separation from loved ones\r
A sin or habit pattern that holds us captive\r
The Devil or demonic attack\r
What God might ask us to do or give up\r
Failing God or fear of losing one's salvation\r
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Keys to Facing Your Worst Fears\r
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How do we face our worst fears? Let's look at how the Lord made the Israelites to face theirs and pull some spiritual principals from their journey.\r
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Think about it in terms of five P's:\r
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Plan, Preparation, Presence, Protection, Providence\r
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Plan\r
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Don't go up without God\r
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Shortly after the Israelites realized that their rebellion at spies' report was a mistake, they decided to go up anyway, and they got beaten pretty badly.\r
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Your greatest fears have merit. The Anakites really are giants and they really will whoop you without God. So you need 1) His strength, and 2) His timing.\r
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Preparation\r
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God will make you ready, you cannot do it yourself.\r
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It takes dealing with the flesh first\r
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Influences from the triangle of evil: the flesh, the world, and the enemy - create weaknesses in us that make us vulnerable to fear. God strips these away as He did with Israel as they came into the land and faced enemies both external and internal. They faced sin, independence, and deception. They learned that they must rely upon and obey God in all things. The flesh and sin held them back by harming their ability to have an ongoing close relationship with God.\r
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Small victories build to big ones\r
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God hones in on your biggest enemy by showing you how He can defeat smaller ones. So look at your greatest fear, break it down into what about it frightens you so much, and then ask God to show you how He is working in your life already in these areas.\r
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An example: if your fear is of losing a loved one, consider the death of someone you don't know, or the death of someone recorded in God's Word. I'm not saying you will not grieve, but put the death in the perspective of the Lord and of eternity, and you begin to see it is not the Anakim the enemy wants it to be to you.\r
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Presence\r
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You are never alone\r
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Joshua 1:5-6 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. NKJV\r
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Matthew 28:20 I am with you always, to the end of the age." ESV\r
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Earlier in their journey from Egypt Moses said to God that unless He went with them they would go nowhere. The presence of God changes the way we look at the Anakim. They are giants, He is infinitely more. It's like having your athletic big brother with you as you face the school yard bully.\r
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Protection\r
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Who is really doing the fighting?\r
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In chapter 10 God sent a panic into the Canaanite armies then sent down hailstones that killed more than the Israelite swords. \r
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What is the worst that can happen - you die? \r
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Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.\r
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Nothing can happen to you outside of God's ultimate will. \r
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Psalms 118:5-6 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? ESV\r
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You really will be overwhelmed. It is peace IN the storm, not protection FROM the storm.\r
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Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ESV\r
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In the end the enemy or the fear doesn't get smaller, but God gets bigger (or so it seems)\r
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1 John 4:18-19 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. ESV\r
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Providence\r
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Fear the Lord, not your fears\r
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Matthew 10:28-32 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ESV\r
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2 Timothy 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. ESV\r
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Let's look again at those six greatest fears\r
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Physical sickness or dieing\r
2 Corinthians 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. God increases, we decrease.\r
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Psalms 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.\r
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Separation from loved ones\r
Jesus is with you always\r
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A sin or habit pattern that holds us captive\r
John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (Steps to Freedom)\r
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Thee Devil or demonic attack\r
1 John 4:4 for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.\r
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What God might ask us to do or give up\r
Luke 18:29-30 "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life." \r
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Failing God or fear of losing one's salvation\r
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You cannot fail Him, He will never stop loving you\r
Psalms 51:1-2 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. \r
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. \r
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You cannot be removed from His hand\r
John 10:27-29 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. NIV\r
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Read Psalm 27\r
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