Through The Bible in a Year - February 27, 2026
“Yet you would not go up, but rebelled...and you murmured in your tents.”
-Deuteronomy 1:26-27
When the giants of fear and doubt loom large and God looks small, we have three bad options to try:
Option 1: Turtle Mode – Just pull in. Stay put. Don’t go forward. Retreat into what’s comfortable. Conclude, “It’s too hard to proceed on the mission God is calling me to.”
But here’s the problem: Giants don’t run from turtles. When we go into turtle mode, we never see the power of God working in our lives.
Option 2: Crawfish Mode – Don’t just pull inward, look backward. “It wasn’t so bad back in Egypt. Those were the good old days.” Never mind that we were slaves, making bricks without straw, watching our children murdered. Whenever the church says “the good old days are behind us,” we have reason not to move forward. We don’t just go into turtle mode—we back up.
Option 3: Rebellion – In this passage, God calls not moving forward in His purposes exactly what it is: rebellion. “It’s a good land I’m giving you,” God says. “Because I said so.” Not to do what God says is not simply regrettable; ultimately it’s rebellion.
When our hurt and bitterness is a giant our forgiveness can’t get past—that’s rebellion.
When our need for profit or position is a giant our integrity can’t get past—that’s rebellion.
When our loneliness or lust is a giant our purity can’t get past—God says, “I love you too much to call this anything other than rebellion that will hurt you.”
Respond: Which mode could you be in right now? Turtle (staying put)? Crawfish (backing up)? Rebellion (refusing to move forward)? Today, confess it and ask God to help you move forward in His calling.
Prayer: Father, I confess if I’ve been in turtle/crawfish/rebellion mode. I sometimes resist Your calling because the giants opposing me can seem too big for you in my too-easily-doubting heart. Forgive me. You’ve called me forward—not because it’s easy, but because it’s good. Help me trust You and move forward in faith. In Jesus’ name, amen.