If the children of Israel were asked this question during the events of Deuteronomy 1:19-28, they would have answered in the affirmative. Moses gives this narrative in verses 26-28: Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God; and you complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” ‘
God wanted His people to enter the promised land. Twelve spies searched out the land and came back with their report and their advice. (The full story is in Numbers 13-14.) The people believed the advice of the majority instead of the advice of Joshua and Caleb. They functioned out of fear instead of faith. They believed the lie that Satan loves to propagate, that God is NOT good and has selfish ulterior motives. Satan began spewing this lie in the garden of Eden and continues doing so to this day. This flies in the face of the reality of God’s amazing goodness and love as shown in the following verses:
- For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. (Psalm 100:5)
- The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. (Psalm 145:9)
- For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
- But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Let’s not be paralyzed by fear and believe the lies of the evil one. Instead let’s walk by faith, not by sight, believing that God is good and loves us more than we can comprehend. God wants us to bless us and give us His power to step out of our comfort zone into His comfort zone, as James Potter will be explaining this Sunday.