The Desert of Fear

Above all else, fear is what kept the children of Israel wandering in the desert for forty years. The only two people out of Egypt in the whole camp permitted to enter into the promised land were Joshua and Caleb, the two men alone who did not fear but trusted in the might of the Lord to deliver their enemies into their hands. The desert is a useful metaphor for fear. Almost nothing grows in the desert and no growth is possible when we are dominated by fear. It's very easy to get lost in the middle of the desert because it's all shifting sands so even your own footsteps can vanish. When we are ruled by fear we can't think about much more than fight or flight. We can't get our bearings. We don't remember where we've been and we have no vision of where we could go. To be ruled by fear is to wander in the desert with no faith and no hope for growth or change or progress. Fear can turn a journey of forty days into forty years. But when we trust the Lord and love Him and rely on Him with our whole hearts, He will cast fear out and lead us out of the desert and into the land of promise.