Prayers2Persevere

Numbers 11:1-6 (ESV)

And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them. Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

The title of this section in Numbers in the ESV is “the people complain.” Here we find the Israelites again dissatisfied with what God provided to eat. The fact that they even had food they didn’t have to labor for doesn’t cross their minds for one second. Yet, they spend time complaining amongst themselves saying, “we don’t want the daily miracle of God, we want to go back to the good old days of bondage in the hot Egyptian sun. At least we had a variety of food.” Doesn’t that sound…odd? And yet we do the same thing to God when we ask Him to sustain us in our time of need. We complain that God’s provision is not enough or it’s not what we thought it would be or you think that if you had done things your own way, you could’ve gotten something better. That, my friends, is called pride. The Israelites literally experienced a miracle every day- multiple miracles with God appearing as a cloud by day and fire by night and enough food to eat every day. God wanted them to grow in their trust of Him, yet they wanted their own way. God wanted them to experience His fullness and they wanted to go back to the comforts of bondage. They wanted to do life without God.

How many of us can honestly say that we’ve done the same thing? Every time we dwell on the shoulda-coulda-wouldas, we focus our eyes on what we don’t have and neglect to see the provision God so generously placed in our hands. How do we shift away from pride? Talk to God honestly. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Cultivate a heart of gratitude. Be generous. Live sacrificially. Be still in His presence. Look for God in the moment. Don’t fixate on the next thing you can earn or obtain. Find contentment with God’s plans and provision. They are always the best thing for you.