Storytime: The Gibeonites’ Trick

How many of you have been scared before? (pause and allow kids to answer)

Sometimes we get scared but being afraid doesn't mean we don't trust God. Everyone gets scared sometimes. But when we are afraid, we can take our fear to God.

After God helped the Israelites enter the Promised Land, the people living there became afraid. They had heard about the powerful God of Israel and knew that He was helping His people.

One group called the Gibeonites was especially afraid. They didn't want to be destroyed, so they came up with a trick!

Read Joshua 9: 3-18

The Gibeonites were so afraid that they felt they had to trick the Israelites to save themselves, but we don’t have to trick God into helping us, we can go to him directly and ask for help.

We don't have to hide our fears or try to handle them all by ourselves.

When we're scared, we can talk to God. We can tell Him exactly what we're feeling and ask Him to help us.

The Israelites also learned that when they didn't know what to do, they should have stopped and asked God for wisdom.