After
this Thursday’s Mop Room meeting was opened with prayer and a
welcome to a visitor the leader of the gang, Ol’ Zeb with his
silver mustache, spoke to everyone with a big warm smile. “Oh am I
excited to share this lesson with all of you. I absolutely love spy
stories from God’s word.” He said caressing his old worn Bible.
But this story is even juicier because it’s about scaredy-cat
spies.”
“You
know I can enjoy comfort and peace even reading true stories about
scaredy-cat spies,” he said to everyone. “Let’s jump in. You
look in your bibles so you know I’m not joshin’ ya!” Another
big grin for all the gang that needed smiles and comfort they
certainly weren’t going to see at home.
“Gang,
we’ve been learning to find comfort and peace for our own hearts by
seeing in His Precious Word how God takes care of us. But today I
want to show you that our comfort and peace also comes from our
obedience to God, even when our eyes and ears tell us not to.”
“Now
the Israelite nation had just been freed from being slaves in Egypt
and crossed the Red Sea when God parted it for them. Do you remember?
Well they were given lots of rules on how to build and operate their
portable church they called the Tabernacle. But that wasn’t the
best gift God had for them. He gave them a whole big land with lots
of food and animals and a lot of room to grow.”
“But
there was one problem. Other people were already living there. And
worse than that, some of the people were giants who certainly didn’t
love the true and living God or anyone else who did!”
“Now
God promised His Israelites that the land and animals would be
theirs. That’s one reason it’s called the ‘Promised Land’.
Well, God had Moses send out 12 spies to check out the land, people,
and how high the walls were, around their cities. Just so they could
be prepared.”
“It turns out that 10 of the 12 spies came back and gave scaredy-cat reports about what they had seen in the land God had promised to them. They were so afraid of the giants that the scaredy-cat spies thought of themselves as little grasshoppers.”
Zeb
told the boys and girls, “Now the reason I’m teaching you this
lesson is because I believe there are some days that you are really
scared by the people or problems you see out in front of you. But
down deep in your heart you already know God has promised that He
would never leave us or forsake us. Remember? He’s given you young
people a guardian angel that’s always on watch.”
“The
two spies that were not scaredy-cats were Joshua and Caleb. Listen to
what they told the people… it’s right here starting in Numbers
14:7:
And
they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying,
The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good
land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this
land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only
rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the
land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them,
and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
“Joshua
and Caleb were telling the people that God is with us when we obey
Him and we shouldn’t be afraid of things out there. Gang, let’s
read that again because I want to show you what I call ‘comfort
cake’,” Zeb said with his warm grin. They read it again and
emphasized the six words, ‘for they are bread for us’.”
Slapping his leg in joy Zeb exclaimed, “I love it! I love it! Gang,
they were saying, ‘This is a piece of cake.’ ‘It’s easy as
pie!’
When
you see trouble ahead all you have to do is remember God’s promises
and what He’s already done for you, and those giant problems will
tumble just like David learned with his sling against Goliath the
giant.
