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Say Yes to God! Don’t be Afraid to Enter Your Promised Land

On October 11, 2025 by Anna De Lay

The Old Testament Israelites often come to mind when I think of human frailty, doubt,  and the propensity for us to wander. How do we forget God’s words so easily?? The events surrounding the Exodus are the perfect examples of this.

The Israelites had been enslaved by Pharaoh for 400 years. Finally, God heard their cry for deliverance and sent Moses (a recovering doubter himself) to rescue them and bring them to the land God had promised Abraham so many years before.

God showed His mighty wonders in Egypt so that all experienced the absolute power of the true God. He brought His people out of bondage, even in the midst of their doubt and complaining. But as they approached the first roadblock to their newly found freedom – being boxed in on every side by mountains, the Red Sea, and Pharoah’s army after them – the people continued their complaints and asked Moses, “Did you bring us here to die!?”

Poor Moses. This was just the beginning.

And yet. God showed up again. He pulled back the sea for them to walk across and then closed it in on Pharoah and his army.

Oh, the songs of praise! The tambourines, the dancing! What a great Sunday service!

Monday came though…

And shortly after, the complaints continued… about water, about food… To answer, God made the bitter water sweet. He brought manna from Heaven. He poured water from a rock. He brought quail for them to eat. He gave them small victories.

But even after all that God had done, they still couldn’t trust Him.

And sadly, they also refused to come near to God. When YHWH desired a close relationship with his children, they were so “afraid” to the point of wanting to stay far away from Him and let Moses mediate instead. (Afraid or just disobedient??) Yet, they swore they would still obey the Lord.

But as scripture tells us, in Moses’s absence (as he was on the mountain with God), the people cast off all restraint and allowed their sinful nature and disobedience to culminate in the erection of a golden calf. Aaron’s lack of leadership, passivity, and fear of man didn’t help the situation. In fact, he helped carry out the sin. “This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!” Really, Aaron?? <Insert facepalm here>

The golden calf wasn’t the tipping point for our patient Heavenly Father, though. No, not even this.

They complained and they doubted, whined and cried for the luxuries of Egypt (apparently forgetting the back breaking work and lack of freedom they enjoyed there…) They tested Him ten times in the wilderness. They even worshipped a golden idol they had made. Yet God stayed true.

No, it was when they refused to believe His word that God said, “Enough.” When the spies came back from the land of Canaan, most of them were afraid. Only Caleb and Joshua believed God’s word that they could possess the land God was giving them. The others scared the people into believing they would be overcome by the giants in the land. “Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us” (Deuteronomy 1:27)

How could they believe the Lord hated them?? After all He had done for them! Moses said, “Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God, who went in the way before you… to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.”

The Lord heard His people’s words of unbelief, and was angry. He swore that not one of them who disobeyed would enter the Promised Land. 

And back to the wilderness they went…but not before changing their minds instantly and presumptuously going up without the Lord to fight a losing battle. God was no longer interested in allowing them to have their own way. The promise went to the next generation instead.

The fact that an eleven day journey resulted in forty years because of Israel’s disobedience…

I think the saddest part of all of this is that no matter what God did for them, God’s people continued to hold onto a slavery mindset. They had the false belief that they could never be anything more than slaves! They were content to be bound by circumstance.

They had grown up in slavery. That’s all they knew. And they couldn’t wrap their minds around anything different.

Even after all those miracles. They rejected the closeness of their Father. They didn’t want to truly know Him. They didn’t want to change.

Heartwrenching.

God help us. We do the same, don’t we? Humans haven’t changed much after thousands of years. We reject God’s calling on our lives because it’s too hard. It costs too much. We believe He won’t be with us if we try. We become contented with the way things are, even though we complain about it.

When God opens a door, we are often afraid to walk through it because of fear. Do we think we can’t be any different than how we grew up? Than how our families are? Do we think we can’t change?

Do we hold onto the mindsets we naturally accumulate and refuse to let them go even when our Father says, “Do not fear” ? God forbid!!

Let’s commit to saying Yes to the Lord. Whatever He asks of us. Whatever He brings us to, though it may stretch us, let’s not be afraid to conquer our fears.

When God says, “Move” let’s move.

When He says, “Seek My face” let our hearts reply, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

When He says, “Get out of the boat and come to me” let’s go, knowing He is right there to help us if we falter.

And when our Promised Land finally presents itself – when it is just a change in mindset, a refusal to doubt, and a step of faith away – let us not recoil and reject the promise that says, “I am with you.” No, let us be confident in the Lord our God, who is more than able to not only give us a glimpse of the promise, but also be with us as we move toward Him, strengthening us every step of the way to the other side of our “yes.”

Father, help your people to boldly and confidently step into the promises You have declared are ours. Let us not be held back by doubt or indecision, fear of the unknown, lack of clarity or purpose, or anything of our pasts that tells us we can’t change or receive any of the good You desire to give. We can do all things with your help. And yes, we can walk into our Promised Land with confidence in the Most High God who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ever ask or dream. God, we are standing on your promises and will walk in obedience to Your Word today. Amen.

If this post encouraged you in any way, please let me know in the comments. ❤️ And then pass it on to someone else who may need a little push to keep moving and trusting God. Thank you for stopping by 😀