Is Fear Holding You Back?

Has the Lord directed you to do something you feel totally inadequate to do? If so, know that you’re not alone. Gideon was working in the field when the Lord spoke to him words that totally shocked him: “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!’” Judges 6:12 Gideon was stunned. “Who, ME? Mighty man of valor? That’s surely not me!” vs 14: “Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?’” So Gideon argues to the Lord what he felt the Lord should know. He told the Lord that he was very unqualified: vs 15: “So he said to Him, ‘O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.’” But of course, the Lord wasn’t mistaken and he said to Gideon all that Gideon needed to know: vs 16: “And the Lord said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you…'” Something the Lord delights to do is to tell someone to do something that the person feels is way out of his league. In Exodus chapters 3 and 4 God speaks to Moses and tells him he’s being sent to bring the Jewish people out of bondage in Egypt: “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:10 But Moses has the same reaction that Gideon did: vs 11: “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’” And the Lord tells Moses the same thing he told Gideon: vs 12: “So He said, ‘I will certainly be with you.'” But that wasn’t enough for Moses, he was shaking in his boots and he expressed his fear: “Then Moses answered and said, ‘But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, “The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ” Exodus 4:1 Let’s not be harsh with Moses, he was shocked at God’s directive that he go back to Egypt and bring them out. This was causing great anxiety in him, and he starts to tell God why this isn’t a good idea. He tells the Lord that words don’t come easily to him, and that no, this is not a good idea at all, Lord, please send someone else: “Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue... But he said, ‘O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else you may send.’” At this point God becomes angry. He’s answered all his objections, but Moses is still asking to get out of this. vs 14: “So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses…” Moses realized it’s probably not a good idea to resist any longer, and he finally gave up and agreed to go. When the Lord tells a person what he wants that person to do, MOST of the time the person will feel unqualified to do it. And that’s by design. God does that on purpose so that it will be obvious that the mission is God’s doing, not the doing of the person he sends. The glory will go to God, MUST go to God, not to the person he sends. And because it is the Lord who sends a person to do something he feels unqualified to do, one can be sure that God will provide all that is needed to get the job done. It comes down to this: do you trust God, or don’t you? Later, when Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan, ten of them came back saying it can’t be done. They said there were giants in that land, (which was literally true) and that the cities were well fortified, and that there’s no way Israel could take that land. Only two of them, Joshua and Caleb, said that because God said he was giving them this land, then he surely is able to bring it about! Remember - this was after all the miraculous signs Israel had seen the Lord do when he brought them out of Egypt! Was parting the Red Sea not enough for them to trust him to bring about what he sends them to do? The Lord was so angry with the ten that he said that only Joshua and Caleb would ever see that land, the other ten would never see it! Has the Lord spoken to your heart something that you’re reluctant to do? Is there a call on your life which you have hung back from accepting? Don’t you realize that when God sends you to do something, that HE will cause that something to succeed? Have you made the mistake of hanging back because the call is to do something you know in yourself that you’re not up to? If so, then you’re judging it according to what YOU feel YOU can accomplish, not according to the understanding that when God tells someone to do a thing, it is HE, not YOU, that will make it succeed. Certainly you can ask for confirmation to make sure it IS God who is speaking to your heart. When you’re sure it is his will, do not come under the anger of God, do not resist when he calls. If you do, you will MISS what God had planned for your life. TRUST him, and do as he leads you. What he will do and how he will do it will absolutely amaze you. TRUST him!