Numbers 17:9-13
When Moses brought all the staffs out from the LORD’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed his own staff. And the LORD said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.” So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined! Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the LORD dies. Are we all doomed to die?”
The Lord gave a big victory to Moses. The Lord settled the dispute with the budding rod. It would have been nice if problems subsided, so he could enjoy it. That wasn’t to be. As soon as this problem is resolved, another arises.
The people are fearful that they will be destroyed. The rebels were put to death on particular circumstances. I understand the fears. Particularly because they had just opposed Moses. The usual end of someone resisting him was death. They probably felt it was coming. Not so this time.
God does put a bit of ambiguity into all of this. Rarely is everything so spelled out that it’s perfectly clear. There has to be left room to trust. We need to rely on Him. In this case, they were just starting. They were learning to fear Him. That’s part of it, too. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Back to Moses. There is usually something else to take up the space of our attention. That’s life. We can’t let this overwhelm us. Moses could get frustrated. He deals with it. This is also where our faith kicks in. We need to give it to God.
The best demonstration of faith is a thankful attitude. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” True faith gives thanks when it appears we shouldn’t be thankful. We are saying to Him, “I see this difficulty. I know You will help me resolve it. You placed it there to bring a witness or to improve my character. Thank You.” It would help us to verbalize this. It’s usually an undercurrent of thought.
Lord, thank You that You help us to manage difficult things. Help us to yield to You and to be thankful in the process.
Lord, thank You that You help us to manage difficult things. Help us to yield to You and to be thankful in the process.