A battle has been going on throughout the ages of man ever since Eve and Adam chose to believe Satan’s lies in the Garden of Eden. Disguised as a snake, he challenged them to look at the world as if they, not God, were the major players in the game. Satan presented a “no-confidence” vote in God by hinting that God was not good and couldn’t be trusted (Genesis 3). We’ve been falling for the devil’s lies ever since.

Living in faith doesn’t mean we won’t face adversity (John 16:33). We will, but God doesn’t leave us to fight battles using only our own puny strength. He’s given us a weapon we can wield even in the worst hardship: the simple act of praising Him (Psalm 8:2). And if we carry the weapon of praise with us every day, then faith is also our regular companion.

Until God rescued the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, they had few life options and lived at the fickle will of their owners, so they were novices in making choices of any kind, including faith and trust. Although these slaves had dreamt about freedom, the reality in the desert failed to match their expectation. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, totally dependent on God for survival, a faithless generation died out, and their children continued experiencing “how-to-choose” lessons in faith and obedience. As they prepared to enter the Promised Land, God told them that they would still have to depend on God for survival (Deuteronomy 11:10-12, NLT).

The Promised Land was a testing ground of faith for the Israelites, both personally and nationally. As believers, we too live in a Promised Land designed to nurture faith—our world is in chaos, but God is in control. When we forget that, fear is our constant companion.

Recent history reveals our world’s continual disarray: devastation as a result of the Vietnam War from 1955-1975; chaos when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1989; North Korea and Iran’s nuclear threats in 2012; and in 2020, the COVID-19 virus made many of us afraid to leave our homes. In 2025, terrorism is a major topic of conversation, and headlines warn of natural disasters that will disrupt life as we know it, bringing us all back to the dark ages. Even a major segment of our entertainment is focused on zombies and end-of-the world scenarios.

Faith can seem unreachable in this hopeless modern-day wilderness, and the devil constantly plays the “no-confidence” card that tells us: “Grow up! Nobody’s going to save you. If you want anything, you have to go after it for yourself.”

“Grow up?!” The world equates maturity to that time we reach the ability to live on our own and are free from parental control or the need of assistance. Our young people can’t wait for individual freedom and a driver’s license. But is this God’s definition of maturity?

Spiritual maturity is the opposite of self-dependence. True faith is the recognition of our total dependence on God that frees us from trying to make things happen in our own strength.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you, life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. Deuteronomy 30:19, NLT

To reach and live in the Promised Land, the Hebrew ex-slaves had to choose to follow God as a daily habit, to believe that what God promises, God delivers. We are on the same journey.

[Taken from the Faith section of Strike the Match, Light the Fire, Chapter 7: “Aim it! Flame it!”]