Israel is finally on the verge of entering the promised land! They are right on the border! The time of preparation is over; God is with them! A young nation about to take possession of an incredible land! All the spies testified that the land was bountiful, flowing with milk and honey! That shouldn’t be surprising; God is a good gift-giver!
But unbelief happens. Ten spies report giants, fortified cities, and enemies of great strength. The “what-if scenario” talk sets in, and unbelief spreads like wildfire! Within hours, a “ready to conquer” mindset shifts into talk of stoning Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb. Unbelievable!
Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” (Numbers 14:1–4, NLT)
What happened to the Egyptian army just a year ago? What happened to God’s power displayed on Mount Sinai? What happened to God’s provision for them? What happened to all the preparation? What happened to the victory mindset? What happened to God? Unbelief happened! An entire year of giant miracles was erased by the mention of giants. A unified nation crumbles at the mention of fortified cities. A bountiful land slips out of view through blurry tears. Unbelievable!
What can we learn from this? Notice the predictable pattern of unbelief! Unbelief produces fear. Fear feeds illogical thinking. Unbelieving, fearful, illogical thinking produces rebellion. Rebellion replaces faith. Without faith, there is no ability to remember what God has done or to have a vision of what God will do! At this point, God is unbelievable!
So, how does unbelief start? The most dangerous situations in our walk of faith are not those that actually happen; they are the “what-if” scenarios we entertain. The scenarios Israel entertained never happened; they were all what-if scenarios that caused their defeat. Imagine being defeated by something that never happened! Unbelievable!
So, the next time we are tempted in our walk of faith to entertain dangerous “what-if” scenarios, by faith, let’s claim the following truth…after all, this truth is believable!
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? … No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. (Romans 8:35–37, NLT)
Thanks for joining me in my adventure to read the Bible chronologically! Today’s post comes from Numbers 14-15, Psalm 90. Tomorrow, I will be reading Numbers 16-17.
Wow!!!! What an amazing reminder to just trust that even though my situation may seem tough God has always come through before and I know he will do so again. I love how Gods Word is so practical and applicable to life. I especially loved the verse in Romans about “overwhelming victory is ours through Christ.” God is so so good.
This is such a great reminder! With the trials we have today in the world, we can be reassured God is in control. We need to remember what he said, not what we see! Amen.