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Of the many facets of faith, one of the most vital is fearlessness. There is always a certain fearless character in the believer who moves mountains for God. This is not presumption nor arrogance, but a fearlessness born out of knowing who we are and what we have.

Another word for it would be courage. Without fearlessness, faith merely becomes mental assent. But with it, the believer accomplishes great things for God!

In the biographies of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, Moses is brought before the reader as an example of fearless faith that gets things done. He had a good start in life, for he was born of fearless parents. “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment” (Hebrews 11:23). The actual record of his birth is in Exodus 2:1-10. His parents kept him hidden and then set the stage so that Pharaoh’s daughter would take him to the palace to care for him, and his mother went along as nurse! And so Moses was brought up as Pharaoh’s son, and had the best education that money could buy at that time (Acts 7:22).

When Moses was forty years old, he killed an Egyptian who was smiting a Hebrew, and when challenged the next day about it by two Hebrews, he fled into the wilderness. He married and remained there for forty years. When he was eighty, God spoke to him and told him he was to lead the nation of Israel out of its Egyptian bondage into the promised land.

Moses complained that he was the wrong man for the job, but God chooses His leaders well, and we read in awe how Moses became a fearless leader. When he died at 120 years old, it is said that “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated… And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses…” (Deuteronomy 34:7,10).

Moses’ first challenge as a leader was to convince the nation of Israel that God had appointed him to the position and that they were to obey his every word. God gave Moses signs which required a fearless faith to operate. One was to throw down his rod on the ground and it became a serpent — and then to pick up the serpent by the tail (ugh!) and it became a rod again. That’s what I call fearless faith! “The people believed” (verse 31), and Moses had won his first battle.

His next challenge was to visit the new Pharaoh and request permission for the whole nation to go into the wilderness and hold a feast unto God. This too required a fearlessness that did not come naturally to Moses. Pharaoh was not impressed at the prospect of losing his cheap labor, nor was he convinced of this “God” business. So he increased the workload, and the Israelites blamed Moses, and Moses went and complained to God! That too needed a fearless faith. However, God assured Moses the nation would be delivered as He had promised.

So it was back to Pharaoh, this time to fearlessly demonstrate God’s signs. Moses made ten such trips, and it was not until the firstborn sons of all the Egyptians were killed that Pharaoh told Moses to get out of town, and do it in a hurry! “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).

However, by the time the nation reached the Red Sea, Pharaoh had changed his mind, and came after them with his army. Once again Moses had to use his fearless faith, this time with the Israelites, who began to believe that it was better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness (Exodus 14:10-12). Moses spoke a bold word of fearless faith: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today… The Lord shall fight for you…” (vs.13,14). And the record states that “by faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned” (Hebrews 11:29).

What an example of fearless faith to believers of today! Faith is a fearless force that produces results.