August 31, 2010

Missing Blessings?


Imagine with me that we are traveling with Caleb and Aaron and the other spies to check out the land of Canaan that the Lord had promised the Israelites.  We've been traveling for over 30 days, and all of a sudden we come up the peak of a mountain and look out, and we see the image above.  We see this land flowing with milk and honey and fruit-grapes, pomegranates and figs.  Caleb and Aaron are excited to report back to Moses the bounty of the land, but the other 10 spies speak first and are afraid of the people living there.  But despite the report of the bounty in the land, the land promised to them by God, the people complain, weep and wail.  God had heard their grumbling many other times throughout the journey and it angered the Lord (Ch 11).

The Lord is always gracious to forgive, however in the latter part of Chapter 14, we see that God is also jealous and just.  As a result of their continued testing of the Lord, he sets down the following rebuke:

"I have forgiven them as you asked.  Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers." (vs 20-23)

"The Lord said to Moses: How long will they refuse to believe in me?" (vs11)

The continual doubts of the nation of Israel caused an entire generation to miss out on God's blessing.

Has my unbelief caused me to miss out on God's blessings?  

Why would I distrust my Savior, who offers new mercies every morning?  Why do I doubt that my God will care for me?  Has Jesus ever given the slightest ground for suspicion?  

If I truly trust the Word of God and my Savior Jesus, it will change the way I pray.  I will not pray from a position of weakness, but a position of strength and confidence, knowing my Lord will respond to me each and every time I encounter His presence.

Does this give you pause as you reflect on how you interact with Jesus?

1 comment:

  1. Has my unbelief caused me to miss out on God's blessings?

    This is a question I allow to roll around in my brain all the time. Our past few years have been so difficult, yet God never ceases to be good. We always always always have blessings in the midst of our struggles. We always always always have so much to be thankful for.

    And sometimes, I feel like I am looking for material blessings (even though God does bless that way at times) when I should be looking for other ways that God chooses to bless.

    I have to remember that sometimes God doesn't always bless on my terms. And often that contributes to my unbelief. It's wrong but its true.

    Thanks for this post. It's a lot to think about.

    ReplyDelete

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