At various points in your life, you will be the recipient of bad news, and you'll face challenges that seem insurmountable. You'll get a phone call that you'll wish you could have left unanswered. It might involve your work, your family, or your money. And in that moment, you will be tempted to fear.

The children of Israel found themselves surprised and overwhelmed by bad news. Twelve spies returned from their scouting trip into the Promised Land, and they laid out the facts to the congregation: "It flows with milk and honey. . . . However, the people who dwell in the land are strong and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendents of Anak there" (Num. 13:27-28 ESV).

The Anakim were a fierce, warlike race of giants—formidable opponents who stood between the Israelites and their future hopes.

You can imagine the scene. The people grew still, whispering to one another. "What are we going to do?" Their anxiety quickly turned to unrest and panic. But Caleb, one of the spies, rose up and quieted the people. "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it" (v. 30).

What a powerful statement of faith in the midst of great uncertainty! In effect, Caleb said, "God has given us His promises, and therefore we can go into the land and take it." Caleb and Joshua focused on the greatness of God, and operated in faith. The other ten spies responded to the same set of circumstances out of fear.

Fear caused the people of Israel to lose perspective. Here they were, standing at the very edge of the Promised Land after being miraculously delivered from the Egyptians. Would they exercise faith in God, or would they cave in to fear?

Numbers 14 goes on to tell us that the congregation was swayed by the majority report of the ten who operated in fear, rather than by the faith of Caleb and Joshua. The Israelites did what we so often do in the face of frightening circumstances—they had a meltdown:

The whole congregation said to [Moses and Aaron] . . . "Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt" (vv. 2-4).

Unthinkable! But fear makes us irrational. Where there is fear, faith is lacking. Where there is faith, fear will evaporate. You cannot walk by faith and live in fear. You cannot walk in fear and live by faith. Are you facing a situation where you're tempted to hunker down in fear rather than move forward in faith?

One of the keys to battling fear is to look for like-minded, like-hearted friends who will stand with you in faith. I am so grateful for friends and colleagues who have encouraged me in my walk of faith—people who challenge my perspective: "Giants? Yes, they're big, but they're not as big as God!"

Ask God to bring a Caleb into your life—a friend who will believe God with you, who will remind you of God's great promises even when the situation looks impossible. Then ask God to make you that kind of friend to others—one who encourages faith rather than fueling negativity and fear in the hearts of those around you.

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