SOAP: the wilderness of fear

S- Deuteronomy 1:27,30-33, 35-36, 38
And you murmured in your tents and said, 'Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt . . . The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.' Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God, who went before you . . . 'Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb . . . Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him . . .

O - The Israelites believed that God was real and powerful. They were afraid that he might not be good or forgiving. God wanted them to see his goodness in all that he had led them to experience. To the Israelites it had been a dry, weary, and wild experience in the wilderness. To God it had been the wooing of their hearts. The Israelites were not ready to obey God because they did not trust him to lead them. They feared the cost, or sacrifice, of entering the land. Instead they were left outside by their own fear. Yet, in their midst were two young men who had been ready to follow God when no one else wanted to. Caleb and Joshua.

A - Here's the truth. I am afraid that I will never inherit the Promised Land (life to the full, mostly talking about here and now). I feel I am so not . . . right . . . that God could not possibly be loving, good, and forgiving enough to let me in. My son is named Caleb out of this fear. I desperately want him to be faithful (the literal meaning of Caleb) in the midst of a generation which certainly will think it is foolish to follow God. I want him to go beyond his fathers and seize what God had promised all along. He embodies a deep-seeded fear of how good God is and the hope of receiving all that God wants for us. I feel as though Jesus is saying to me, "Not only does Caleb get to go to the Promised Land but you (Joshua) get to go to. Let me encourage you."

P - Lord encourage my heart. May your perfect love cast out fear. Thank you for the promised inheritance of true and everlasting life, starting now. Help me trust and embrace you and your way of life today.

Exodus 20:20-21
Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin." The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.