Scripture Passage: Numbers 13:26 – 14:9

There is much we can learn about the debilitating power of fear from the story of the Israelites at the edge of the Promised Land.

Scene 1 | The Israelites reached the Promised Land and sent 12 spies to scope out the land and its inhabitants. The spies noted the land was every bit as good as God had promised. The spies should have looked for how to take over the land and not whether or not they should.

Scene 2 | The spies reported that while the land was prosperous, it was also filled with giants. They became frightened and documented the reasons they should walk away from what God had promised. Fear exaggerates the obstacles to God’s will. We should measure the size of our obstacles against the size of our God.

Scene 3 | The people allowed fear to rewrite their future and the future of those close to them. They were too afraid to take what God promised them. The inhabitants in the Promised Land were no stronger or more powerful than the Egyptians God had just defeated, but the people forgot to look back at what God had already done for them.

Scene 4 | Caleb gave a rebuttal. Unlike the fearful spies, he believed that they could take the land — because God had told them to do so. It is always safe to take what God gives you.

Remember that the opposite of fear is love. Perfect love casts out all fear.

• What are you afraid of?

• Where is God leading you?

• Lay those fears at the foot of the cross and go where God tells you to go and do what God is telling you to do.

• Talk about times when you overcame fear to do what God had for you.

• Discuss the things you are afraid of and pray for each other.