Today we start the book of Deuteronomy - a book the Daily Walk Bible describes as a collection of sermons that Moses gave to the Israelites. In Chapter 1, Moses retells the story. A big part of that story is what happened in a little area known as Kadesh Barnea (see Numbers 13-14; Deuteronomy 1:2-36). At Kadesh Barnea, the people refused to continue trusting God. They stopped moving forward in faith. They got anxious, dug in their heels, and became unwilling to obey God further.
What is interesting is not simply what they did (refused to trust God) but why they did it. Moses, in this first sermon, links the Israelites' refusal to obey and trust with their perception of God. Moses describes the Israelites' actions and thoughts as follows: "But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go [into the land God had promised]. You complained in your tents and said, 'The Lord must hate us....'" (Deut 1:27)
Do you see what happened? The circumstances in which the Israelites found themselves (up against some obstacles associated with entering the land) impacted their view of God which impacted their behavior. Things were tough so they thought God hated them. And because they thought He hated them, they saw no point in trusting him.
Too often, I am tempted to do the same thing. Too often, you may be also. When God provides for us and does exactly what we want, we think that He really must love us.
When we face circumstances we do not like, encounter things we cannot control, or God doesn't give us the life to which we think we are entitled, we begin questioning. We question whether He loves us. We question whether He has forgotten us. We, like the Israelites, might even question whether He hates us. Then...we can begin questioning whether it is worth even obeying or trusting him further.
Does this sound familiar? How do we avoid it? How do we get a proper view of God that can sustain us through all of life's circumstances?
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When things don't go the way I plan, one of the things that helps me is to remember the past. When I look back, I can see the times that God was faithful, and I can trust Him to still be the same faithful God for the future. I can think of specific prayers God answered for me in very difficult circumstances in high school, college, and grad school (can you tell that a lot of my faith is built through tests- the academic ones:)
This may sound like a typical "Churchy" answer, but it really works for me. God is constantly telling the children of Israel to REMEMBER HIM. Look at Det 4:39. "So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The LORD is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other god." Even the chosen people who had heavenly directions provided to them (clouds and fire), food every day (manna and birds), and experienced that whole parting of the Red Sea miracle still grumbled and whined about their PRESENT circumstances. But are we any different? Most of us have spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder.
Chuck Swindoll said it best: God is always more concerned about our character than our comfort.
Spiritually mature christians will face trials, they will remember God's faithfulness, and they will persevere.
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