Fear Not! Faith DevotionsChikamu

Faith, Don’t Leave Home Without It

“Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you” (Deuteronomy 7:20-22).

This is Moses delivering a pep talk to the children of Israel prior to them entering the Promised Land. He tells them not to be terrified, the LORD will go before them, and “little by little” He will drive out their enemies. Why little by little and not one fell swoop? First of all, God is keeping some of the enemy around for animal control. The bad guys help keep the animal population under control.

Even more importantly, however, is that God wants His people to walk by faith and we walk in faith step by step, little by little. We are not supposed to live by what we see. Paul tells us, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).The writer of Hebrews tells us, “without faith it is impossible to please God." So how do you walk by faith and not by what you see? You turn to Psalm 119:105 in your owner’s manual: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” God will give you enough light to take that next step in life, and then you do it all over again.

Another key point in this passage is that God has everything at His disposal, including all of nature. If God needs some hornets to drive the enemy out of caves, He will call upon them. You may recall that God used ravens to keep the prophet Elijah alive: “I have ordered the ravens to feed you there” (1 Kings 17:4).

Do you need a shot of faith today? There is one fail-proof way to get it: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).Get your owner’s manual out and read it daily.

“Do not be terrified by them (insert your name here), for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God” (Deuteronomy 7:21).

Prayer: Lord, You are a great and awesome God. You have the whole world and all nature at Your disposal to accomplish Your purpose, so what have I to fear? I want to have a God-pleasing kind of faith. Help me to walk by faith instead of what I see in the natural. May I have an unquenchable thirst and a passion for the word of God. In Jesus name, amen.