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Aug 22, 2023 06:00am

Relentless Trust Matters

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

Talk Time

What are some areas in your life where it’s hard to trust God?
What are some fears you have that seem to control you?
What would it look like to have a dose of pure bravery for a day?
How would your life be different if you trusted God with your fears?

Bible Connection

God wants us to have the type of trust that is RELENTLESS. Relentless trust is a trust that doesn’t give up when God asks us to do something so big, something so different, or something so ridiculous, we don’t back down; rather, we say yes…because often times, that is the precise moment that God will do something miraculous! In our focus story today, we are looking at the Israelites. After 400 years of being enslaved, God has freed His people, divided the Red Sea to save them from the Egyptians, and provided food for them while they were in the desert (as well as other miracles). God led the Israelites to the edge of their Promised Land and take it from the people who live there. Because of their fear and hesitations, God allowed Moses to send 10 spies to check out the land – its cities, its vegetation, its springs, etc. After exploring the land for 40 days, the spies returned.

Read about this moment in Numbers 13:25-33 to see what happened next!

The good news? The land was fertile and many crops and fruits grew there. The bad news? There were large cities with high walls and strong, tall people (“giants”) living there. The spies’ report about the people living in Promised Land caused much panic and fear among the Israelites. They whined and complained that God was just trying to kill them…some of them even wanted to go back to being slaves in Egypt! (They probably thought that God was being ridiculous in asking them to do such a thing.)

But two spies, Joshua and Caleb, stood up against the strong pressure of the Israelites to retreat and tried to encourage them to trust God by saying the land was good and that God would help them! They urged the Israelites to not be afraid and obey God – He would be with them. The Israelites got so mad at Caleb and Joshua, they actually tried to stone these two young courageous men! That is when God intervened and punished them all. The punishment? Every adult Israelite (20 years or older) would die in the desert, never to see their Promised Land because they didn’t trust God to help them. God said their children would go into the Promised Land, along with Joshua and Caleb, because they trusted the Lord wholeheartedly. The Israelites lost out on the biggest blessing of their lives because they couldn’t trust God to do what He promised to do.

Faith Connection

Fear is a liar and it steals much from our lives. Think about it: What could we be missing out on because of our own fears? Feeling fearful is okay, but God is hoping we will trust Him to help us face our fears, instead of running away.

When we trust God with the big, different, or ridiculous things He prompts us to do, He helps us do it! The other 8 spies, as well as the Israelites, saw the size of their problem, while Joshua and Caleb saw the size of the God. But, thank goodness, that’s not the end of the story. Forty years later, the second generation Israelites got a do-over from their parents’ mistakes, and this time, they trusted God. With God’s help, they conquered the land and enjoyed a time of peace in this new land with Joshua and Caleb as their leaders.

This story shows us that God loves and blesses a trusting heart.

It’s where the impossible becomes possible.