Unafraid of the Future

“But what if something terrible happens?” It’s a question that surfaces in my mind anytime I am starting something new, taking a trip away from my family, or even when one of my kids gets sick.

Experts in human behavior call this type of distortion in our thinking “catastrophizing.” It’s when we tell ourselves something bad is in the future and predict a catastrophe when there’s no real evidence that anything bad will happen.

The enemy of our souls has always used the fear of the unknown to keep us stuck. Instead of forging forward into the Promised Land, we wander around, lost and lonely, in our own wilderness. Just ask the Israelites. They should know. After all, they were the wizards of wandering.

After forty years of wandering just outside the land promised to them by God, they were finally on the verge of reaching their destination. God said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the lands of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites” (Numbers 13:1).

Just stop for a moment and reread those words. Notice the Lord says, “Explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.” He didn’t say, “If things don’t seem too crazy over there, I’m going to give Canaan to the Israelites.”

No, God was quite clear about his intentions.

“Take a look around,” he was saying, “because everything you see is going to be yours one day.” But after twelve spies went to observe the land, ten of them came back with horrible news. The land was perfect, but they saw no way they could defeat the giant Canaanites. They concluded the promised land was out of their grasp.

Just look how quickly the Israelites lost sight of who they were—God’s people—and how he’d saved them! This is because the enemy is 100 percent invested in keeping us in the wilderness while God is 100 percent invested in guiding us to the promised land.

Isn’t that the way fear of the future keeps us stuck in the wilderness ourselves? When we stand at the edge of our own next step, our own uncertain futures, the enemy will always try to stop us with fear.

But we know he who has overcome the world lives in us. We know that victory is his, and even though we face a battle today, the enemy will not be victorious.

Our future is filled with hope. But if we are going to face our future, we must face our fears.

I’ve learned God’s presence doesn’t mean I’m fearless; instead, it means I can fear less. We can look forward to the future because God is already there. As we face our future, the one God has mapped out for us, we can face it with hope. He knows who we are, he knows who he created us to be, and we aren’t going to fall apart, because in his hands, in his plan, we don’t have to fear the future.

This devotional by Alli Worthington is available at Bible.com.