Protection From Falling Prey!

Often people fall PREY TO FEARS of things that may never happen or live with a fear that creates the atmosphere for the very things feared to actually come about. When times are difficult people can often be filled with many fears. In President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1933) which was given as the United States had just entered the Depression, he stated one of his most often quoted phrases: “First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” [source: “Great Quotations”, by W. J. Federer, © 2001] Fear can have a paralyzing impact. It can also cause irrational thinking and behavior. Therefore, where we maintain our focus and what we keep in remembrance is of extreme importance.

When Moses sent the spies in to look over the promised land and return with a report, he gave them some specific instructions. ( Numbers 13:17-20) With those instructions Moses exhorted the twelve spies to “BE OF GOOD COURAGE.” ( Numbers 13:20) However, ten of the spies came back having obeyed every command but that one (note Numbers 13:28), and the people became greatly discouraged. Though Caleb and Joshua continued their attempts to redirect the focus back toward TRUST IN GOD ( Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9) the others continued to offer words of discouragement. ( Numbers 13:31-33)

In response to the discouraging reports we read…
“(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.’” ( Numbers 14:1-4 ESV)

Not only was this rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, but ultimately against God. Where was the TRUST “in spite of all the signs that [God] had done among them?” ( Numbers 14:11) What need did they have He did not fulfill? What deliverance did He not provide when needed? Was there anything God had revealed Himself incapable of doing? What impact should such have had on their focus? Still, the harder Caleb and Joshua tried to encourage the people the stronger their resistance, even to the point of being ready to stone these two men of faith. ( Numbers 14:10) Instead of seeing themselves or their families as becoming “PREY”, they should have knelt down and begun to “PRAY”! Instead of deciding to put their trust in some other leader, they should have remembered how God had been with them all along the way and retained their TRUST IN HIM.

Peter encouraged…
“(6) Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, (7) CASTING ALL YOUR ANXIETIES ON HIM, BECAUSE HE CARES FOR YOU.” ( 1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV)

When things may appear difficult in comparison to ourselves, let us remember they are nothing compared to God! Stopping for a moment to PRAY redirects our focus back to the One Who sees beyond what we can. A PRAYERFUL focus can also bring to remembrance what God has done in the past and what He has promised for the future. We too have a promised land to which we are journeying. Let us not give up in the midst of life’s challenges, but rather keep our TRUST IN HIM to carry us through to the eternal home prepared for those who are His.

Have a great day MAINTAINING A PRAYERFUL FOCUS!
Carl

See other teEn-MAIL on Fear