Apart from afflicting nations and people groups just as we had discussed, fear can also hijack the destiny of a nation or a person. Because Israel allowed the fear of the sons of Anak to conquer them, they were never able to conquer their Promised Land. This generation wasted for 40 years in the wilderness and did not see the fruits of the Promised Land. Where a nation or people group continues to allow fear to control them, they will stop moving forward, that’s the end of a nation. Because the Israelites could not trust the Lord to bring them to the Promised Land, the destroyer was released among them. Their fear and unbelief cost their vision.

“Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me,  as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, and saw My works for forty years. “Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways’;
as I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’”Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:7-12

The devil uses fear to keep people in bondage and once fear is allowed, he controls them so that they cannot take any step of faith where God calls them. This battle rages in every human soul and the only refuge from fear is to step in faith. We have to choose which will be our master. This message is to help impart courage so that you will continue in your vision and walk in the fullness of God’s calling in your life. Once fear is replaced with faith, you will be irresistibly drawn into your purpose and destiny. You will then help set others free from their bondage and move closer to their callings. Though the basic course of our lives is dictated by our submission to either faith or fear, there are degrees of control to this. To the degree that we allow fear to affect our decisions, that is how our purpose and destiny is affected. This is the main reason why we are also told that, “whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23 NKJV). This should compel us to walk in faith daily including our daily routine tasks in the office, church, business deals, school or even in our sports. If fear controls us, then fear becomes our lord. To walk in obedience means to walk in faith and we are told that “the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:38-39 NKJV).

Thus, it is our basic mandate to grow in faith and to resist every way fear tries to control us in our lives. For example, the woman who is employed by a complaining boss should not allow her boss’ irrational behaviors to affect her performance in the office. She should pray for her boss daily that he will be enlightened and God will touch his heart to see his need to change. Another example for this is the car dealer who should not extort too much from his business deals but only that which is right and fair. If he fears to lose more because of giving the right price, he should pray to God that God will send him customers instead of simply hitting big with intermittent number of customers. This is living by faith.

For us to walk this way, we have to renew our minds and perceive the world around us differently. We are those who will determine that faith in God will control our actions and beliefs, not fear.  Another remarkable aspect of faith is its simplicity, we connect to the Source and leave that to Him to work in our behalf. This simplicity of faith is liberating while fear is more complex and have more kinds ranging from fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of man, fear of betrayal, fear of intimidation, fear of embarrassment etc. This multitude of fear seeks to bind many so that they cannot walk into their destiny. This is why the more we grow in our faith in the Lord, the more peace, rest and fulfillment that we receive in our lives. And all our previous paranoias and fears too are gone. It is basic therefore that we should seek to grow daily and abide in faith, and where fear tries to control us, let us reject it and walk in faith that the Lord has something better for us.

Vision of eternity

The greatest insecurity that man has on earth is to find one day that he will perish and had lived a life that is rubbish. This fear of failure is rooted in part to our nature which is completely that of the opposite of faith. Because man failed God, he tried to cover all his failures with his own acts of goodness ranging from productive business deals, fame, honor and other pursuits that have never been sacrificed to the altar of God. When we pursue these things without the Lord, we will be in for a big surprise in our death bed. We will count how much or how many of these will actually continue to exist or had the impact of eternity in it after we die. And if we will find that there will not be many, we will be afflicted in our hearts. It is for this reason that those who have a vision of eternity are also the most secure and the most confident people to take on the world at large. Their faith has enlarged not only their vision but their reach. While vision shows them what to do and what they can do more, their faith is strengthened by their daily resolve to do just as God called them to. Faith therefore is also dependent on our vision for eternity. Those who have negative faith will rarely accomplish anything in this world, except seeing what is negative and evil.

Extraordinary faith

One man who foresaw the Kingdom of God and lived in it through his heart is Abraham. Faith allows the Kingdom of God to work in our lives, because he walked by faith and followed the will of God, Abraham is said to have become the father of faith. He was not looking for an earthly city but for the city whose architect and builder is God. When we think about his extraordinary exploit of leaving his country, his father’s place and his relatives, he truly walked by the eyes of his heart. If we were in Abraham’s place, we might complain to God that He has brought us into a desert country while we could have been living in the ease of city life in New York or Hong Kong. Ponder about this, to be a citizen of Babylon is to be the envy of the world. It has its hanging gardens, water falls, public baths and pools, temples, wide streets, science and education that is the best of its time and a city that is the greatest of its time. Then to merely follow a voice, that is not even familiar to you or to your relatives and then decide to go to a desert place? That is simply ridiculous and crazy. And indeed it was a crazy idea, but God does not call people into a life of ease and logical reason, He calls men to follow Him regardless of the environment because God tests the hearts and faith does not see like the natural eyes does. If we were in Abraham’s place, will we indeed follow the Lord’s voice?

But the Scriptures say of the man, “by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10). Indeed it is unscriptural not to use our minds, there could have been some squabble between Sarah and Abraham about his decision to move to Canaan. But in the end, he prevailed because they trusted in the One who promised to make them a great nation, a blessing to all the families of the earth and a great name (see Genesis 12:2-3). To have true faith, does not mean we have to be perfect, and it does not mean to blank one’s mind. But to use our mind which is renewed in the Word of God and decide according to the leading of the Lord. I don’t trust the discernment of someone who comes to me, and says, thus saith the Lord “you shall do this and do that” when in fact, what they are saying are contrary to the Scriptures and contrary to what is practical, righteous and sensible thing. God’s leading will always be practical, useful for growth, equipping, and training in righteousness which is beneficial for you and your country.

In faith we see what is yet to come, we have hope that God will bring that which is hidden, that which is unknown and bring that to existence. Faith beholds the future as if it already exists, that is why Mary was able to ask Jesus for wine and He gave it! Now, we might not see the church that God may have called us to build, but if we continue to prophesy life to the bones, to the dead around us, even these dead ones will arise and God will give them life. He will give flesh to the bones, sinews to the flesh, blood to the veins and heart to the person and for every individual and army. That was the mandate of Ezekiel, he prophesied life to the bones and these bones became alive, an army of multitude. Extraordinary faith comes when we look to God and He will bring deliverance on our side. Our God really is all powerful; He brings the needed changes when we cry out to Him.

Therefore let us continue to walk in the light which reveals every darkness and downside there are in us. Let us read the Scriptures which are a mirror that will show us who we are and convict us where we made the wrong turn.  As we do, we will be growing in increasing faith and the peace of God that will cause us to abide in His love and peace. This will be the most contagious fragrance we can impart on others and they will then begin to ask us of the hope that we have, why in spite of the terrible darkness around us we are still living by faith.

As every man’s heart will fail, filled with anxiety and driven by the madness of the times, we will be ready to combat and secure the Kingdom of God in their lives, all because we first cast away the fear in our lives and replaced it with faith. Since the devil dwells in darkness, he is only able to deceive us in areas where we have no knowledge and where we do not possess the truth. Truth is light.

The more we know and understand, the more we should be walking in faith. We want to replace every fear there are and expose it for what it is and His light will pierce the darkness in our hearts, delivering us. Abraham did not doubt God because His light shone on his path, it was an extraordinary faith because he saw the future with just the faith that he had and walked in complete obedience to the Lord, leaving his place of comfort. This will also be the nature of those who are the sons of Abraham-faith that sees beyond the natural.