TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Numbers 14:26-38
Does God become mad when He watches us choose fear instead of faith? This is an unpleasant thought but a needed revelation. How often do we displease God because we elect to proceed with a heart posture of fear instead of faith?
In Numbers 14, God punishes His people for refusing to enter into the Promised Land. Instead of embracing the glorious promises of the Lord, the people conjure up imaginary dragons of fear to refuse entering the Promised Land. The people want to go back to Egypt. The Israelites are suffering from nostalgic remembrance. This is the problem of distorting memories. Rather than remembering realities–– like making clay bricks and the flesh-ripping whips––all the Israelites remember were the melons and the fruits. The backbreaking labor and the scorching sun are too quickly forgotten. Sadly, the Israelites viewed the Promised Land as place of terror while remembering Egypt as a tranquil place of harmony. Fear can distort one’s perspective in life.
The fearful response of the people causes the Lord to punish them with forty years in the wilderness. The fearful generation is punished, but the children suffer too. Numbers 14:33 states, “And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.” Sometimes people do not realize the faithlessness of one generation punishes the next. A lack of faith can be witnessed in the next generation. Empty worship services are on us, not them! Do we model a fearless faith?
Today, I will…set an example to my children, to my friends, and to my family of a bold faith in God. I will be motivated by faith and not fear today.