The Fear Factor - Purpose & Power

"There we saw the giants ... and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." Numbers 13:33

Fear's purpose is to prevent you from knowing what the possibilities are in life.

A frequent admonishment in the Bible is to "fear not". We are told not to fear our situations or what man can do, but to have a healthy and reverent fear of God. Many Believers are paralyzed by fear, failure, uncertainty, or the mere possibility of a negative outcome. God's countermeasure for fear is faith. Faith transcends how things appear and is established on the truth of God's Word. If you are afraid to take the first step, then you can never reach what lies ahead for you. The Bible declares: "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2Timothy 1:7, KJV). Fear is not something that God has given, but something that is received in the absence of faith. God instead has liberally provided us His Spirit and love which maintains and preserves our peace - or sound mind.

Sponsor Ad 7For Believers, fear is an authority issue. You cannot fear something that is has already been defeated. Being with God's Will provides us with the confidence that whatever we face in life, whether good or bad, that it will turn out for our good. By faith, God's Word is the ultimate authority in a situation. In essence that is what God's word is - authority. It is the final arbiter and sovereign of all things - visible and invisible. There is nothing that can overcome or overpower God's Will and Word. Fear has stopped countless men and women at the doorpost of greatness, causing them to return to a life of mediocrity. Fear's primary objective is to stop you from fulfilling God's purpose and plan for your life. Someone may be asking, "If fear is such a barrier to obtaining our purpose in life, how do we overcome it?" "Where does it get its power?" The answer to these questions can be found in the following text: "There we saw the giants ... and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight" (Numbers 13:33)

I would venture to say that the greatest inhibitor in Believers experiencing fruitfulness and fulfillment in their lives is their being intimidated by what they see. The children of Israel's problems began with these words: "there we saw the giants" (Numbers 13:33, underline added). They were poised to possess what God had promised until they saw something that caused them to fear - giants. This is why Believers "walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith requires us to base our responses not on what we see, but upon what God has said. What you see is only half of the equation and never the final authority. God uses situations that appear impossible to increase our faith in Him. Every miracle in the Bible was birthed out of a situation that appeared impossible. Satan specializes in appearances. He uses fear of a temporary situation, to cause us to make long term decisions and to doubt God's immutable Word. The Bible Says: "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen" (2 Corinthians 5:18). God uses His Word to overcome our fears and move us beyond what we see. Your overcoming what you fear depends on your faith in what God has said.

When the Nation of Israel began to occupy the Promised Land, the first thing they faced was giants. You generally run into a "giant" prior to possessing your promise. Giants are representative of obstacles that stand between your and your destiny. Giant problems are the test in life that you must overcome or pass in order for you to receive your promotion. Giant problems are a last ditch effort by the enemy to turn you around before you occupy the place God has called you too. These problems can take the form of health issues, financial difficulties, legal, personal and relational difficulties. They all seem intimidating and appear insurmountable therefore they require God's intervention for us to overcome them. How you handle your giant problems will determine whether you settle for less or experience what God has for you. Fortunately, there was at least one person in Nation of Israel that believed God instead of being intimidated by what they saw. Caleb believed that God's promise that He had already given them the land and convinced the rest of Israel to go in and possess their promise. If God has called you to do something and a "giant problem" raises its ugly head, move forward in confidence, because what's on the other side of your problem is worth the fight.

Sponsor Ad 3Anyone who suffers from a spirit of fear generally will have a diminished appraisal of themselves. They discount their abilities, potential and worth and esteem their situation higher than themselves - and often God. Much of what we fear, we have magnified and made much larger than what it really is. Israel's real problem was not the giants, but their perception of themselves. The giants had shown no sign of aggression toward Israel. It was fear that made them want to turn around and return to wandering in the wilderness. They magnified their problem and shrunk themselves, seeing themselves only as grasshoppers. They said: "we were in our own sight as grasshoppers" (Numbers 13:33, underline added). The giants did not call them grasshoppers, they did. They reduced themselves to nothing more than insects. They were not grasshoppers, but they might as well have been. They were defeated before they encountered their problem.

This is the key to fear's power. Fear depends on you magnifying your situation in an attempt to suffocate and overwhelm you. It wants you to convince yourself that you are unable do what you have set your mind too. Fear knows that once you engage it, its power is gone. That is why its main objective is to stop you before you start. It is depending upon your magnifying the object of fear out of proportion until you conclude that it cannot be overcome.

The mission God has given you is greater than anything you will ever encounter along the way. Faith in God's Word is the answer to anything you fear. "For we walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). Remember, the only power fear has over you is the power you give it!

Excerpted from "Saved But Stuck: 30 Days to Personal Revival."