Ever sat down and just wept as you asked God for something without ever actually uttering a word, pleading with Him to help? It is comforting to know that God hears and God answers prayers. It just may not always be exactly what we are asking for.
In Numbers 21, we see the Israelites had just won a major battle, defending their people and completely destroying the Aradites. Aside from Moses, this was the generation who would be entering the Promised Land. Aaron had just died and Eleazar, his son, succeeded him.
God’s path…
The major battle they won was an instant pride boost for them. Confident, they assumed battles would all be won. They had just made a vow to the Lord that they would totally destroy those He delivered into their hands.
Life doesn’t always go the way we see it heading… sometimes it seems God is leading us down a sure and steady path and we veer way out of that direction wondering what happened.
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Here, we see the seemingly easy path through Edom to Canaan was not the route they were to take. Earlier, we witness God directing the Israelites into the desert instead of directly into the Promised Land.
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
Exodus 13:17-18
Our faith is built. It is not automatically received once proclaimed. Our faith is part of a process God takes us through and a journey we travel with Him as our guide. It can greatly help our own walk as we pick it out in the stories we read about the Israelites and helps us understand a fuller picture of who God is.
The Israelites couldn’t go the Northern path into Canaan, now they have recently been denied passage through the Southern route.
A bad thing turned good…
In both examples, what the Israelites saw as a bad thing, was actually a good thing. God had their best interests at heart, all while teaching them to trust in Him. The prior chapters taught us that sometimes good things can turn bad, and here we see the opposite.
While they were there, the Israelites were attacked along, the likely route, the middle path, toward the Promised Land. The Lord listened and answered ‘Yes’ to their pleas; the Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns.
Yet, they didn’t continue on that route, and instead went back toward the desert to come around Edom and enter Canaan from the East.
The curveball complainer…
When the Israelites are thrown a curveball from the direction they expect to go, they grumble and complain. This time was no different. Yet, how often do we do the same? We whine because what we see is the difficulty of the journey, sometimes not recognizing that the path we are on is for our own good: to teach us something we will need later, to build our faith, to protect us from something, etc.
The Old Testament is a prime example for us as Christians to start to pick out the sovereignty of God in the lives of His people. It is the choice nectar of the stories we read. It can also start a challenge you can give yourself. When in the midst of trials and curveballs of your own, think through the details of what you have been through and what you are going through. Specifically pick out those instances where God is leading you, where He has shown Himself faithful, where His love has enveloped you. Treat it as an opportunity instead of a burden so you can grow closer to Him.
Confession…
The complaining and the grumbling represented more than just unhappiness.
The pain of the consequence drew them to knowledge of their sin. Share on X[Their] impatience (v. 4) led them to blaspheme God, to reject his servant Moses and to despise the bread from Heaven. This is the most bitter of their several attacks on the manna…. Just as Moses’ attack on the rock was more than it appeared to be … so the people’s contempt for the heavenly bread was more serious than one might think. Rejecting the heavenly manna was tantamount to spurning God’s grace.
Numbers 21:5, NIV Study Bible commentary
God sent venomous snakes among them, with loss of life a natural result. When they came to Moses they knew they had sinned. The pain of the consequence drew them to knowledge of their sin.
God answers prayers…
The people requested a specific thing to happen: that the snakes would be taken away.
The response they received, though, was different. It does not say God removed the snakes. It says God provided a way of healing for anyone who was bit by a snake.
Sometimes, the same is true in our lives. We pray for a specific thing to happen (or not), and our answer is different. The pain may still be there but now the answer is as well.
God answers prayers. His answers may not be the answer we are looking for, but they are there nonetheless in the form He has chosen. Let us see the answers He gives as coming from a sovereign God, for our best interest.
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Oh, you’ve put your finger on my number one struggle in this folllowing life. When life throws me a curve ball, my theology goes off the rails and everything I know about the sovereignty of God evaporates.
I’m getting some practice with that in this season.
It’s helpful to read your thoughts here.