Faith in Action: David Cerullo on Convoy of Hope, Obedience, and Disaster Relief

What does it really mean to live by faith?

It’s easy to say you trust God when the path ahead is clear. But what happens when He asks you to move before you know how things will turn out?

Those questions were at the center of a conversation between Inspiration Ministries Chairman and CEO David Cerullo and Convoy of Hope President and CEO Hal Donaldson, recorded at Convoy’s Global Headquarters in Springfield, Missouri—a fitting place to talk about faith, since Convoy puts compassion into action for families facing disaster, hunger, and hardship.

David and his wife, Barbara, have been longtime friends and supporters of that mission. But the conversation became about more than the work of two ministries. It became personal—because sooner or later, every follower of Jesus comes to the same question:

Will I trust God enough to obey Him?

Watch the full conversation with David Cerullo and Hal Donaldson.

Faith Is Trusting God Enough to Say “Yes”

When Hal asked David what he’d learned about faith, he didn’t begin with accomplishments or experience. He began with dependence on God:

“The biggest thing I’ve learned about faith is to not depend on who I am, not depend on the resources that I think I have in my hands, and to just trust God and have the courage to say yes.”

That’s the heart of biblical faith. Not confidence that you’re strong enough or wise enough to control what happens next—but confidence in the God who is faithful.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6).

God doesn’t ask you to see the whole road before taking the next obedient step. He asks you to trust Him.

How Do You Know God’s Will?

David puts words to a struggle many believers know well:

“If you and I know the will of God, how do we know it? How do we know that we know that we know? Maybe the easiest thing would be if God showed up in person—we’d know. If He started writing with a finger of fire on the wall, we’d know. Absent those kinds of things, how do we know what God’s will really is?”

God has already revealed His character, commands, and truth in Scripture. Anything you believe He’s leading you to do must be measured against His Word—the Holy Spirit will never contradict what God has already spoken.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Knowing God’s will begins with knowing God Himself—through His Word, prayer, and a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit. David describes his own posture this way:

“What’s important for me in exercising my faith—and how I respond to what I perceive to be the voice of God—is just to be obedient as best I’m able, and not worry about whether I’m right or wrong.”

Then comes one of the most arresting lines in the whole conversation:

“Even when you’re wrong, you’re right.”

David illustrates it through the relationship between a parent and a child who sincerely tries to obey but misunderstands what was asked:

“If their heart is sincere and pure, and what they did was out of perceived obedience, how could I punish that?”

Sincerity doesn’t make every choice right—Scripture still calls you to wisdom and discernment. But you don’t have to live paralyzed by fear that one imperfect decision has placed you beyond God’s reach. Your Heavenly Father knows your heart. Stay teachable, test what you believe against Scripture, and trust Him to redirect and mature you as you walk with Him.

Grow Stronger in God’s Word

If you’re asking how to know God better and grow in discernment, the Spiritual Growth Hub offers biblical discipleship resources to help you strengthen your walk with Him.

Explore the Spiritual Growth Hub.

When Past Mistakes Try to Hold You Back

Some mistakes are hard to forget—a decision you wish you could change, a season when you knew better but went your own way. The past can replay itself until yesterday shapes the way you live today.

David’s response is simple and direct:

“Don’t live in the past. Don’t live in regrets.”

Then he names the voice that tries to convince you failure has become your identity:

“It’s the enemy’s job to condemn us—to tell us how bad we messed up, how God can’t or won’t forgive us, or that this mistake is just irreconcilable. That’s the voice of the accuser. Reject those voices. Those are lies.”

Scripture never treats sin lightly—its cost is seen at the cross. But for the person who belongs to Jesus, condemnation doesn’t have the final word.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

There’s a difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction leads you toward repentance and restoration. Condemnation tells you there’s no way back. That’s a lie.

“I do not dwell on the mistakes. I do my best to learn from them and press on.”

You can learn from the past without living there. Your hope was never your ability to live perfectly. Your hope is Jesus Christ.

Your Hope Is Jesus Christ

No amount of success, service, or good behavior can make you right with God. Salvation cannot be earned.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Jesus Christ took the penalty for sin at the cross, died, and rose again. When you place your faith in Him, you’re trusting what Christ has done—not what you’ve done for God.

If you’ve never placed your faith in Jesus, you can say yes to Him today.

Discover how you can begin a relationship with Jesus.

The Spiritual Dangers of Success

Failure can tempt you to doubt God. Success can tempt you to believe you no longer need Him. Hal asked David about that danger, and he didn’t dodge it:

“Sometimes when you’re successful, you look to your own resources—and I’ve had a tendency to do that in my life—as opposed to recognizing that everything I have came from Him, everything I have is for Him and for His purposes.”

The danger begins when what God has given you starts taking the place that belongs to God Himself. Israel faced the same temptation:

“Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17–18).

David recalls something his father taught him:

“God is not depending on who you are. He’s not depending on where you are. He’s not depending on what you possess or what you don’t possess. He’s simply depending on Himself and what He can and will do through you—because God is not going to make His word vulnerable to you or me.”

What you possess is not the source of God’s power. God is.

Biblical Generosity Begins With Open Hands

Ministry requires resources. David puts it plainly:

“You can’t do what God’s called you to do without resources—without people, without time, without money, without partners.”

Scripture doesn’t teach that money is evil—it warns that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Timothy 6:10). The deeper issue is the heart: do you possess what God has given you, or does it possess you?

“When you experience bad times, there’s a tendency to hold on—a tendency to clench your fist tighter, a tendency to say, ‘I won’t have enough for me or mine.’ God wants us to live open-handed.”

Biblical generosity isn’t a transaction—you can’t buy God’s favor. Everything already belongs to Him. Giving becomes an expression of trust: placing what He’s entrusted to you back into His hands.

You Are a Walking Warehouse of Seeds

What would David say to someone who feels they have little to offer?

“Give God something to work with. I don’t believe anything leaves heaven before something leaves our hand.”

That’s a life of open-handed trust, not a formula for earning God’s blessing—“every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). God is always the source.

Then he offers an image worth sitting with:

“I like to think we are a walking warehouse of seeds—you and me, everybody who’s watching this. Our time is a seed. Our talent is a seed. Our finances are a seed. We are called to be seed sowers because we’re called to reap a harvest for the Kingdom.”

You may have been looking at what you don’t have, while God is asking you to surrender what you already do. A phone call can be a seed of encouragement. Time spent with a hurting family can be a seed of compassion. A financial gift can carry the Gospel to someone you’ll never meet.

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6–7). We’re called to be faithful with what God places in our hands. The result belongs to Him.

Faith in Action Through Convoy of Hope Disaster Relief

The location of this conversation mattered. Convoy of Hope’s Global Headquarters is connected to practical responses when hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, and hunger turn people’s lives upside down—and for someone who has just lost a home, compassion can’t remain an idea.

David describes Convoy’s teams as being sent “to be the hands and feet of Jesus extended to hurting people, hungry people, people in need.” Then he makes it tangible:

“Your staff is being the hands and feet of Jesus, as if He Himself was there—helping to mud out a house in the North Carolina mountains, or airlifting in supplies of food and water.”

James 2:15–17 warns against seeing someone in need and responding only with words. Biblical compassion acts. Not every believer will stand in a disaster zone—but every believer has something entrusted to them, and sometimes your seed can go where you cannot.

Why David and Barbara Support Convoy of Hope

Hal asked why they’ve chosen to sow financially into Convoy through the years. David’s answer came from what he’d seen:

“I believe in Convoy. I believe in the mission—the calling that God’s put in your heart. The fruit. This is what I would describe as good ground—because there’s a harvest that comes from good ground.”

You can’t personally go everywhere or meet every hurting family. But partnership lets obedience reach farther than one person can go alone. You may never see every meal provided or every person reached with the Gospel—but God sees it all, and He remains Lord of the harvest.

Need Prayer as You Seek God’s Direction?

Maybe there’s a decision before you, or regret from the past, or financial pressure that’s made you tighten your grip. Bring it to Him—and you don’t have to pray alone. Prayer ministers at Inspiration Ministries’ International Prayer Center are ready to stand with you and agree with you according to God’s Word.

Share your prayer request with the International Prayer Center.

Obey God and Leave the Harvest to Him

Near the end of the conversation, Hal asked David what counsel he’d give the Convoy of Hope family. His answer brought everything back to the heart of faith:

“Do what you’ve done all these years. Obey God, and leave the consequences to Him. The harvest is not up to you and me. He’s the Lord of the harvest.”

There’s freedom in that. You don’t have to control the outcome or see the whole path before taking the next step. You obey. You pray. You serve. You give. You sow what God has placed in your hands, and you trust Him with what only He can do.

What Is God Asking You to Place in His Hands?

So what’s in your hands today? Maybe it’s time in His Word. Maybe it’s repenting and letting go of yesterday. Maybe it’s an encouragement to give, a need you can meet, or a step of obedience you already know you need to take.

Don’t despise what looks small. A seed looks small too. Your responsibility isn’t to produce the harvest. Your responsibility is faithfulness. God gives the growth.

Sow a Seed for Souls

Right now, someone needs to hear that Jesus Christ died for sinners, rose again, and offers salvation to all who place their faith in Him. Through your partnership with Inspiration Ministries, you can help carry that Gospel around the world and disciple believers through God’s Word.

You may never travel to the place your seed reaches. But you can become part of the Greatest Rescue Mission of all.

Sow a Seed for Souls and help share the Gospel around the world.

Keep your confidence where it belongs—not in the size of your seed, not in your resources, not in your ability to produce a result. Put your confidence in God. Obey Him, and leave the harvest in His hands.

Watch the Full Conversation

There’s even more in David Cerullo and Hal Donaldson’s conversation about faith, knowing God’s direction, moving beyond regret, biblical generosity, and trusting God with the results of obedience.

Watch the full interview with David Cerullo and Hal Donaldson.

Watch the full conversation between David Cerullo and Hal Donaldson below.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Bible teach about faith and obedience to God?

Biblical faith trusts God and responds to His Word with obedience. Believers are called to seek God, follow Scripture, depend on Him rather than themselves, and trust Him with the outcome.

What does Convoy of Hope do?

Convoy of Hope provides disaster relief and practical help around the world while also serving communities through hunger initiatives, U.S. outreach programs, agriculture, and other expressions of compassion. Inspiration Ministries has been a long-time supporter of Convoy’s work.

How can I know God’s will for my life?

Knowing God’s will begins with knowing God Himself through His Word, prayer, and a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will never lead contrary to Scripture, and God is a faithful Father who guides, corrects, and matures His children as they walk with Him.

What does the Bible mean by sowing and reaping?

Scripture uses sowing and reaping to illustrate how faithful actions can produce fruit. Believers plant and water through giving, serving, praying, and obeying—but God alone gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6–7).

How do I overcome regret and condemnation from my past?

Scripture teaches that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). While God’s conviction leads to repentance and restoration, condemnation comes from the enemy and should be rejected. Believers can learn from the past without being enslaved to it.