Fear Not! (2)
We saw in the part one of this message that David became a successful and victorious warrior because he conquered the spirit of fear. Even at the face of great dangers, he kept his confidence in God. He trusted the ability of God to save him in every situation, no matter how precarious it was. And God loved him for that. In fact, because of his love and confidence in God, he received an everlasting throne. The bible said that Jesus (our savior) will occupy the throne of his father David forever. God is looking for people that will trust him, and one has to totally conquer fear to be able to do that. If you carefully study the bible,you will find out that the first thing God does in anybody that He intends to use for a special purpose is to help him /her conquer this great monster called fear. This is just because, He knows that it will be impossible to walk with him or carry out his assignments without great courage. God's assignments are divine and we must operate in that realm to be able to carry them out. His assignments will always look impossible, impracticable, unattainable. They are not for the natural and the fearful.
Look at the story of Joshua.God gave him what looked like an impossible task, but at the same time assured him that if he would do away with fear, that the assignment was as good as already done. Yes, when God gives out an assignment, he sees it as already done. It is we humans that often see the barriers and the obstacles. For God,there is no obstacle to His words. So He sees through to the end (fulfillment) of the projects. And we must begin to see like God.
Let's see Joshua 1:1-6,9 "After the death of Moses the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses, assistant he said, "Now that my servant Moses is dead, you must lead my people across the Jordan river into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses; Every were you go, you will be on land I have giving you. No one will be able to stand their ground against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. Be strong and courageous, for you will lead my people to possess all the land I swore to give their ancestors, be strong and very courageous. I command you- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Now, you have seen what happened here. God was given Joshua what looked like a very impossible task and at the same time telling him to be very strong and courageous. Joshua was to lead a very stubborn people across a bridgeless muddy river, to go and possess a land already occupied by strong and well-fortified nations. How could God do that? There were no boats to ferry them across. There was no bridges. Even if they managed to cross over, how would they go through the impregnable walls of the first city they would meet - Jericho? How would they move on to conquer the other equally great cities without reasonable weapons to fight?
Beside these, Joshua as Moses' assistant already knew the stuff of the people he was to lead to this 'impossible' task. He has been there to witness what they (Israel) did to his predecessor. So, there were more questions to this project that answers. No wondered God told him clearly that he must of necessity be fearless, strong and very courageous. Remember courage is not an absence of obstacles, but the ability to control fear in the face of danger or rain. So Joshua walked upon the word of God. Jordan divided, the great walls of Jericho fell, and they went ahead to posses the promised land of Canaan. The word of God is the bridge you need to cross into that vision you have now.
Moses had the same experience when God to him to go and bring Israel out of Egypt. The mission looked very impossible. And Moses did not hide his feelings to God about that. He told God that he could not speak well. He was afraid to go and stand before Pharaoh in the land of Egypt where he had been declared wanted for committing murder. He also complained about the unbelieving nature of the Israelites. Infact, Moses was short of telling God to look for someone else for the mission. But God was seeing beyond Moses. He was already seeing Israel out of Egypt. Look at His response to Moses' fears. "Then God told him, I will be with you. And this will serve as proof that I have sent you: when you have brought the Israelites out of Egypt,you will return here to worship God at this very mountain. I promise to rescue you from the oppression of the Egyptians. I will lead you to the land now occupied by the Cannanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. A land flowing with milk and honey. The leaders of the people of Israel will accept your massage, then all of you must go straight to the king of Egypt and tell him, 'the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.
"But I know that king of Egypt will not let you go except under heavy pressure so I will reach out and strike at the heart of Egypt with all kinds of miracles. Then at last he will let you go. And I will see to it that they will load you down with gifts, so you will not leave empty-handed. The Israelite women will ask for silver and gold jewelry, and fine clothing from their Egyptian neighbors and their neighbor's guests. With this clothing, you will dress your sons and daughters. In this way, you will plunder the Egyptians.
The above stories show us that God sees the end of a project from the beginning. Look at how He was confidently telling this people what will happen in the future. That simply meant that He was certain that the assignment was not going to fail. He is God and is always in full control. Nothing can obstruct His Purposes. He was even telling Moses, " you will return here to worship God at this very mountain." (Exodus 3 Verse 12). The implication was that He (God) had already seen Israelites out of Egypt, worship Him on that same mountain. Though Moses was seeing obstacles, ineloquence, stubborn Israelites, wicked Pharaoh, etc, but God was seeing the possibility and an accomplished job.
What is that project that God gave to you? What is that vision? Do they look so impossible? What is that assignment or mission that you are about to abandon because of barriers and obstacles? Is it a career? A building project? A ministry, relationship, marriage, a dream or an aspiration? Don't be afraid to move on. Only be strong and very courageous. Begin to see beyond the obstacles and barriers. Begin to see beyond your own ability. See God and His ability to see you through. Don't brood over the barriers, but see it as a finished assignment. Like God, begin to see the sweet end. God bless!
Rev. Agbo is the author of the book 'Power of Midnight Prayer' Tel: 08037113283 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.authorsden.com/pastorgabrielnagbo