Faith Over Fear — TDW Kids

When We Feel Like Grasshoppers

☐

The ten spies saw tall people and strong walls, and fear took over. The Bible has a lot to say about what to do when we feel small and scared.

Feeling small. The spies said, “We were like grasshoppers in our own sight” (Numbers 13:33). Fear made them feel tiny, and it made God seem small.

Everyone feels afraid. Fear is a normal feeling. David wrote, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psalm 56:3). David said whenever, not if. Even brave people feel afraid sometimes.

God is with you. “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10). Dismayed means losing heart. God's answer to fear is His presence.

Be strong. God told Joshua, “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Joshua was one of the two faithful spies.

Not a spirit of fear. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Fear is a feeling, but it does not have to be the boss.

Light in the dark. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1). When God is your light, darkness loses its power. You never face the dark alone.

Jesus on the water. In a storm, Jesus came to His disciples and said, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27). The storm was still loud, but Jesus was there.

Peter's wobble. Peter walked toward Jesus, but “when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid” and began to sink (Matthew 14:30). Boisterous means wild and rough.

Jesus catches him. “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him” (Matthew 14:31). Jesus helps us even when our faith is small.

Bigger than giants. “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The giants in Canaan were never bigger than God.

Who can be against us? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Paul wrote this to people who faced real danger.

What we learn. Fear looks at the problem. Faith looks at God, who is bigger than every problem.

What to do. This week, when you feel afraid, say Psalm 56:3 out loud and tell God what scares you.

Numbers 13 shows how fear spreads and how faith answers it. God does not shame us for being afraid, but He does not want fear to rule us either. He turns the fearful heart toward His presence and His promises.

Self-perception (Numbers 13:33). “We were like grasshoppers in our own sight.” Fear first bends how we see ourselves, then how we see God.

Fear and trust together (Psalm 56:3). “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” David assumes fear will come. Faith is not the absence of fear but trust in the middle of it.

The ground of courage (Isaiah 41:10). Every command not to fear comes with a reason: “for I am with you.” Courage rests on God's presence, not on positive thinking. The same pattern appears in Deuteronomy 31:6.

Commanded courage (Joshua 1:9). Joshua, one of the two faithful spies, receives the command “Be strong and of good courage” forty years later. The reason given is the same: “the Lord your God is with you.”

The fear of man (Proverbs 29:25). “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” Israel trapped itself by fearing people more than God. The ten spies feared the Anakim; Caleb feared the Lord.

A sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Paul sets “a spirit of fear” against power, love and “a sound mind.” Christian courage is clear-headed, not reckless.

Psalm 27:1. The questions “Whom shall I fear?” and “Of whom shall I be afraid?” expect the answer no one. If the Lord is light and salvation, no enemy has the last word.

Matthew 14:27-31. When Jesus said “It is I,” many Christians hear the name God gave Himself at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). Peter sank when he looked at the wind instead of the Lord, and Jesus caught him.

Little faith (Mark 4:40). Jesus asked, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” His rebuke is also an invitation to trust Him.

Greater is He (1 John 4:4). John wrote to believers facing false teachers. The God who lives in them is greater than every opposing power.

God is for us (Romans 8:31). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Opposition is real, but it cannot overturn God's purpose.

Boldness (Hebrews 13:6). “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” The writer is quoting Psalm 118:6.

Application. Name one fear you carry, and pair it with one promise from this section. Say that promise to God when the fear comes.

Caleb Followed Fully

☐

Only two of the twelve spies trusted God: Joshua and Caleb. Caleb's story keeps going long after Numbers 14, and it shows what following God with your whole heart looks like.

A different spirit. God said of him, “My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully” (Numbers 14:24). Fully means all the way, not halfway.

A promise kept. God promised to bring Caleb “into the land where he went” (Numbers 14:24). God never forgot that promise.

From his heart. Caleb later said, “I brought back word to him as it was in my heart” (Joshua 14:7). He told the truth he believed, even when it was not popular.

Not like the others. “My brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God” (Joshua 14:8). Caleb did not let the crowd change his heart.

Forty-five years. “The Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years” (Joshua 14:10). Caleb waited a long time, but God never forgot him.

Eighty-five and strong. “Here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me” (Joshua 14:10-11). God had kept Caleb strong for the work ahead.

Give me this mountain. “Now therefore, give me this mountain” (Joshua 14:12). It was the very place where the giants had lived. Caleb chose the hardest place on purpose.

Still trusting. “It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said” (Joshua 14:12). Caleb's courage still came from God, not from himself.

His reward. “Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb… because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel” (Joshua 14:14). God kept His promise to the very end.

Look to Jesus. We follow Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). He was faithful all the way to the cross.

Faith that sees. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Caleb trusted a promise for years before he saw it.

Our inheritance. God gives believers “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).

What to do. This week, choose one way to follow Jesus fully, like praying every morning or telling the truth when it is hard.

Caleb is the Bible's portrait of wholehearted faith that lasts. His story runs through Numbers 13-14, Numbers 32 and Joshua 14, more than forty-five years.

“A different spirit” (Numbers 14:24). The phrase describes an inner direction, not a personality type. Caleb's spirit was shaped by trust in God's word.

“Followed Me fully.” The Hebrew idiom is literally filled up after Me. Caleb did not follow God halfway.

Repeated praise (Numbers 32:12). Moses later names “Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.” Kenizzite probably means Caleb's family had come from outside Israel and joined the tribe of Judah. God welcomes everyone who trusts Him.

Integrity (Joshua 14:7). “I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.” Caleb's report matched his conviction; the ten reported their fear.

The melting heart (Joshua 14:8). The ten “made the heart of the people melt.” Fear spreads, and so does faith.

Patience (Joshua 14:10). Caleb waited forty-five years, through the wilderness and the conquest, for a promise made in a day. Faith often means waiting. Hebrews 11 is full of people who trusted promises they had not yet received.

Strength kept (Joshua 14:11). At eighty-five Caleb claimed the same strength he had at forty, and he gave the credit to God: “the Lord has kept me alive.”

The hardest mountain (Joshua 14:12). Caleb asked for Hebron, home of the Anakim who had terrified the ten. His request reversed the original report, and Joshua 15:14 records that he drove out the three sons of Anak.

Humble confidence (Joshua 14:12). “It may be that the Lord will be with me.” Caleb's faith is confident but not presumptuous; it depends on the Lord.

Christ the faithful one (Hebrews 3:1-2). Caleb points beyond himself. Christ “was faithful to Him who appointed Him,” and He is the one believers consider and follow.

Faith defined (Hebrews 11:1, 6). Faith is “the evidence of things not seen,” and “without faith it is impossible to please Him.”

More than conquerors (Romans 8:37). Believers are “more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” The victory belongs to Christ and is shared with His people.

Application. Think about what following Jesus fully would look like for you at school, at home and online.

📖

Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.