“Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said.” (Numbers 11:1 NLT)
Have you ever wondered how you would have responded to eating the same thing for every meal for 40 years? Apparently, the children of Israel didn’t like it, and they began to complain. What about living with the same spouse for 40 years? Or dealing with the same disease for 40 years? Or working the same job for 40 years? Doesn’t it largely depend on how you view it?
Remember, the Israelites were in bondage to Egypt before they were delivered miraculously by the Lord, and His chosen instrument Moses. They had a vision of being in their “Promised land,” a land flowing with “milk and honey,” a land of plenty where they would no longer be slaves. How quickly they lost sight of that promise.
A similar thing can happen to us in our walk with the Lord. We sign up for “forgiveness of sin and a home in heaven,” but we don’t like the “desert” we have to cross to get there. When we lose sight of the big picture and begin to scrutinize the day to day grind it’s easy to get discouraged. But it’s what we do in the “desert” that defines the person we are and how effectively God can use us in the interim between now and then.
Grumbling is contagious and can poison our ability to understand why we’re where we are in our journey and why God is allowing us to be there. With the Lord EVERYTHING has a purpose, even the disappointing, and sometimes heartbreaking events that have the potential to cripple us.
The Prince of Preachers, Charles H. Spurgeon, asked the question – “Why must I go about mourning?” and in response wrote: “Dear believer, can you answer the above question? Can you find any reason why you are so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why do you allow your mind to dwell on gloomy thoughts? Who told you that night will never end in day? Who told you that the winter of your discontent would continue from frost to frost and from snow, ice, and hail to even deeper snow and stronger storms of despair?
Don’t you know that day dawns after night, showers displace drought, and spring and summer follow winter? Then, have hope! Hope forever, for God will not fail you!”
Did God not keep His promise to the children of Israel? Of course, He did! But not to the grumblers! They all died in the wilderness on a 40-year journey that could have taken only a couple of weeks. Are you stuck in your faith because you’re trying to micro-manage God? Are you so persistently peering through your “microscope” at the way things are, you’ve forgotten the promises God has made to you and the plans that are unfolding under your nose, but you’re missing? The only way to see the breathtaking vista at the top is to climb the mountain.
In Mark chapter 8 Jesus is explaining to the disciples that He will be tortured and murdered, but Peter takes Him aside and reprimands Him for saying such things. Do you remember how Jesus responded? “Get away from Me, Satan! He said, ‘You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.’”
Peter was seeing things through the “microscope” of his own understanding, while Jesus was urging the disciples, and us, to see through the “telescope” of His omniscience. When things are hard, as they surely will be at times, take a step back and see your circumstances through the lens of eternity and God’s eternal promises. It will clarify a lot if you let it.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 