Numbers 11:1-3 - Now when the people
complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, the Lord heard
it and his anger was kindled. Then the fire of the Lord burned against them,
and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. But the people cried out to Moses; and Moses
prayed to the Lord, and the fire abated. So that place was called Taberah, because
the fire of the Lord burned against them.
Daily life for the Israelites was not an
easy thing. We are not told exactly what the complaining was about but packing
constantly…walking such long distances each day…and eating only manna every day
had to have beat down their spirits. No
wonder grumbling arose in the camp…the spirit of discontent gripped them so fully
it made God angry….so angry he destroyed part of the camp…till Moses saw fit to
pray for them.
The people made the mistake of complaining
to each other…they whined amongst themselves…to mere people who couldn’t do
anything about the problems. They whined to each other…they lashed out at Moses….they
lashed out at each other…the grumblings getting worse each day they traveled.
Thank God for Moses and his quick
intervention….for he prayed to God for an answer. Moses knew to pray to the
only one who could fix any problem we have….Moses knew to lift up the problem
to God. And God heard his prayer…and stopped the fire.
What a great lesson for all of us that get
a little dissatisfied with life’s crazy circumstances sometimes. I know I sure
am guilty…especially at work…it seems that every time I turn around some new
rule…paperwork… the addition of a teacher web site…low scores from the year
before…and I find myself gathered together with my colleagues complaining and
wishing for retirement once again. Not once have I suggested that we gather to
pray about the issues….guess I have my orders this morning…no more complaining…except
to God in a prayer…for him to give me guidance.
Father…thank you once again for smacking me
in the face with a sin I need to deal with.
This one will be hard…for you know how much I love to talk. Give me the strength to stop complaining and
give my worries to you. Help me to find
the strength to do all that is asked of me…and call out only to you when it
gets hard. Teach me to pray like Moses…so you will answer me quickly. Amen
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