Sooner or later, every leader confronts a problem that seems insurmountable. As the leader, it is your job to assess the situation, define the problem, develop a plan of action, and engage the organization.
Some leaders fail this crucial test because they see the future through the eyes of fear.
To succeed as a leader, you need to see the future beyond the problem that lies before you and act in faith with confidence your plan will succeed.
In my younger days, I worked for an executive vice president, who I admired greatly. He could assess a situation and quickly develop a plan of action. What impressed me about him, though, was his ability to cast his vision of the future to the organization, so it had everyone clamoring to get on board.
He saw the future: he remained steadfastly confident we would achieve the desired result. His faith in the plan and the organization was contagious.
He was a superb leader because he saw the future with eyes of faith, not fear.
The story of the people of Israel on their way to the Promised Land provides a telling example of what happens when an organization sees the future with eyes of fear rather than faith.
The Promised Land Problem
The Lord led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt with the promise of delivering them to freedom in their land. The Promised Land.
God had Moses send out 12 men to scout out the land and report back to Moses and the people (Numbers 13).
When the scouts returned, ten of the men reported that the land was rich in resources, but it was populated by giants who they could never conquer.
However, two of the men, Joshua and Caleb, confidently reported that they should go up and take the land.
However, the negative report of the ten men outweighed the positive report of the two. The people of Israel had to wander in the desert for the next 38-years before they had a second chance to enter the Promised Land.
The people of Israel saw the future through eyes of fear rather than eyes of faith.
Eyes of Fear
This story of the Israelites recounted in Numbers 13-14 is not atypical. We suffer from the same fears and experience the same reaction when we see the world through eyes of fear.
Here are five ways we react to situations and problems when viewed with eyes of fear rather than faith.
1. We Exaggerate our Difficulties.
The majority report is almost always negative and wrong. The people of Israel trusted the ten men’s negative report instead of Joshua and Caleb’s positive report. Negative attitudes among leaders are contagious. It took 38-years before the next generation of Israelites went in and discovered the people living in the Promised Land had been living in fear of an attack all that time and were ready to surrender.
“They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there” (Numbers 13:27-28).
2. We Underestimate Our Own Abilities.
Despite all God’s promises and having God guide and protect them this far, Israel’s people lacked faith. They were insecure about their abilities. They had low self-esteem and the leaders projected their insecurities onto everyone else. How often do we let something someone said about us impact how we feel about ourselves years later? We identify with our weaknesses instead of relying on the power and promises of God.
“We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33).
3. We Get Discouraged.
When the discouraging report spread through the Israelite people, they threw themselves a giant pity party, weeping all night. The Israelites were rescued from 400-years of slavery in Egypt, but they became discouraged as soon as they heard their leaders’ negative report. The same thing happens in our organizations today. A negative report from a leader will spread like wildfire through the ranks demoralizing the organization.
“That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud” (Numbers 14:1).
4. We Start to Gripe About Our Lives.
It is no secret; critical people tend to be the most insecure. They express their insecurity through their criticism and negativity. As their pity party continued, the Israelites complained about their leaders, Moses and Aaron, suggesting they all would have been better off dying in Egypt as slaves or as wanderers in the desert. Once again, we see the adverse corrupting effect of negativity and criticism; it spreads through an organization like cancer.
“All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!” (Numbers 14:2).
5. We Give Up and Blame God.
The inevitable outcome of growing fear is to give up and blame others for the situation you’re facing. The Israelites convinced themselves slavery was safer and more appealing than the challenge of moving ahead into the Promised Land. They blamed God for their current situation and even accused God of rescuing them only to allow them to be killed by their enemies.
“Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:3-4).
The Growth of Fear
We read the Israelites’ story and, in perfect hindsight think, how foolish they were to see the future through eyes of fear rather than faith. Didn’t they know God was with them and would deliver on His promise? If only they had had faith in Him. Instead, they were crippled by fear.
The same thing happens in our organizations every day. Problems arise. Seemingly insurmountable challenges lie on the horizon. Then, the fear cycle commences.
- We Exaggerate our Difficulties.
- We Underestimate Our Own Abilities.
- We Get Discouraged.
- We Start to Gripe About Our Lives.
- We Give Up and Blame God.
When the initial negative report has taken root, it grows to maturity as we ultimately give up and blame God for our own fears and insecurities.
This is the inevitable outcome of a weak leader who sees the future through eyes of fear instead of eyes of faith.
More Articles
I have written several articles on Courage. You can find them by typing “Courage” in the search bar. Meanwhile, here are several of my favorites.
- #364: Are You Waiting for Perfect Conditions?
- #323: From Victory to Defeat, Breaking Down and Burning Out
- #259: Two Obscure Women Whose Courage Saved a Nation
- #231: Is it Wrong to Leave God out of the Workplace?
- #125: 5 Truths Esther Taught Me about Leadership in the Face of Death
Join the Conversation
As always, questions and comments are welcome. Have you worked for or with weak leaders who saw the future through eyes of fear? What was the effect on the organization?
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Category: Personal Development | Courage/Risk-Taking
Exaggeration of difficulties. I saw this a lot in my professional career. People would amplify perceived problems instead of focusing on solutions which usually required less effort than they thought.
I agree John, I think “exaggeration of difficulties” was the most common issue in my career as well!
[…] contrast, weak leaders see the future through eyes of fear, not faith. Last week we examined the Israelite’s failure to enter the Promised Land because they fell victim to a […]