The Zero Factor

Week 33, Tuesday

Lori McDaniel

We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey. . . . Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large.

Numbers 13:27-28 (nasb)

Nevertheless. That word needs no translation. It means I put my foot down. I’m not going forward regardless of the promises. The Israelites knew God’s Promised Land existed. They had fruit as proof. They had been exposed to God’s trustworthiness. Nevertheless, they intended to play it safe.

Our fears emerge from the epicenter of our most basic needs—safety, love, belonging, confidence, and success. When God called our family to live in Zambia, questions flooded my mind. What will we eat? Will we be safe? Am I adequate for the task? Will we have money? What will I have to give up? Questions are not wrong. What’s wrong is striving to answer them in such a way that I let the questions determine the depth of my faith and the level of my trust. Our Lord encourages, “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10, nasb).

Moses sent a reconnaissance team into the Promised Land. Their mission was to return with answers to a checklist of questions: Is the land big? Are there trees? Is there fruit? Are the people weak or strong? (See Numbers 13:17-20.) The spies returned from the land with two antithetical souvenirs, fruit and fear. The land was exactly as God said it was, but there were “giants” that lived there.

Proof of fruit does not eliminate fear. Even though the Israelites saw the fruit, their hearts melted. Fear causes us to exaggerate what we humanly assess to be true and we reduce what we know God can do. It’s not that they didn’t believe in God; they just didn’t trust Him. It’s not that they didn’t want to live in the Promised Land; they were afraid of what it would require.

Fear deflates our passion, distracts our mission, and detours our obedience. Fear is the zero factor in any equation. Any number multiplied by zero is always zero. Fruit—proof, God’s confirmation—multiplied by fear equals zero—zero movement, zero faith, zero Promised Land, and zero experiencing God.

God, show me where I have put my foot down against You. Show me where I have allowed fear to have residence in my heart. I confess my fear to You. Continue to lead me forward. I will follow and trust You. Amen.