"They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account. 'We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is it's fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev...'Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 'We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.' But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We can't attack these people; they are stronger than we are.' And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. 'The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw Nephilim there...we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.'
Fear does funny things to us. Fear paralyzes us. This is what happened to the people of Israel. A people who had seen first hand G-d in big, bold miracles, like liberating them from Egypt, parting waters, and killing their enemies. This G-d commanded them to teach their children of the miracles He had performed, to remember all the mighty works that He had done, to never turn aside from trusting that G-d is with them. G-d is with them even when they cannot see Him. Any and all success was only possible because of their surrender to G-d. And yet, here they are ascribing to men what is only meant to be ascribed to G-d. "They're too powerful." "They're too strong." "They have mighty walls."
In ascribing to their enemies the power that should only be ascribed to G-d, they failed. They allowed their fear to distract them. They allowed their fear to disconnect them from G-d. They allowed their fear to call themselves unworthy - to equate themselves to grasshoppers and to assume the world saw them the same way. Fear ravishes us. Fear devours us. Fear is the enemy of faith.
The people of G-d, the people who had witnessed His mighty hand and powerful miracles, allowed their own fear to conquer their lives. The word for community here means "witnesses" or "testimony givers." These were G-d's testimony givers - the ones who would carry His story to the world and their fear broke their mission.
Today, we do the same. The evil one has no power except that which we give him, that which we relinquish to him. In our fear, we ascribe to him power that is only G-d's. We ascribe to him miraculous deeds as if he has the attributes of G-d. He doesn't. He is not all-powerful. He is not all-knowing. He is not omnipotent. He is not omniscient. He is not divine. Those are the attributes of G-d and G-d alone. We see our enemies as people who have power over us, as people who can harm. We let our fear determine how we think the world sees us. Our fear pins us to our own insecurities. Our fear looks us in the face and utters untruths about who we are. Our fear clouds are witness. Fear ravishes us. Fear devours us. Fear is the enemy of faith.
Caleb and Joshua, followers of a really big G-d, stood before their people, silencing them and calling them to account. "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it...the Lord will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord and do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
In Mark 10, we see the story of the rich young man who says, "Lord what must I do to follow you?" Jesus replies "sell everything you own, give to the poor and follow." The man can't do it. The man can't surrender. He can't trust. Jesus continues "With man this is impossible, but not with G-d, all things are possible with G-d." Sounds a lot like Caleb and Joshua's declaration.
Everything is possible with G-d. G-d alone is mighty. Any success we have, no matter how hard we have worked (and work we must)...any success we have only happens when we surrender control to G-d and trust him. Only G-d can do it, but He does it through us. Fear ravishes us. Fear devours us. Fear is the enemy of faith.
We have choice. Fear or faith? Which do you choose?
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