Forgive My Unbelief
BRD REFLECTIONS:
Numbers 13, 14 and Psalm 103 (NIV)
(Serene Chia, Assistant Zone Leader, Zone 1)
READ:
I read Numbers 13 and 14. The verses that spoke to me were:
Numbers 13
- V31-32: But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored.
Numbers 14
- V30: Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
OBSERVE:
These passages in Numbers 13 & 14 are about the Israelites’ lack of faith in the Lord to lead them to “a land flowing with milk and honey” (14:8) based on God’s covenantal promise.
Despite Caleb telling the Israelites to take possession of the land, they expressed disbelief and chose to believe the words of the other men who explored the land, that the land “devours those living in it” (13:32) and that the people were stronger than they were.
This angered the Lord and He said that “not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors” (14:23).
When I read these passages, I thought having experienced the parting of the Red Sea and God’s daily provision of water and manna, the Israelites would put their trust in God wholeheartedly.
However, they were filled with grumbling and said they wished they died in Egypt, and it would be better for them to return.
In the end, the Israelites had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, with only Joshua and Caleb entering the promised land.
APPLY:
I am reminded that just like the Israelites, I tend to forget God’s goodness in both the big and small things in my life when I meet with difficulties. Instead of calling out to God, I choose to dwell on my problems and rely on my own strength to solve them. When this happens, I need to remember God’s faithfulness in my life, and how He has seen me through past hurts and disappointments. He is also with me every day as I go through the challenges of being a parent of two young children.
DO:
I will strive to
- Seek the Lord in the stillness of the morning and pray over the events of the day.
- At night, I will take the time to reflect on my day. I will thank the Lord for His work in my life. I will seek His forgiveness in areas I have failed Him and will seek to do better in.
PRAY:
Dear God, thank you for saving me by sending your son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins. I repent of my unbelief, and for the many times I have chosen not to heed your voice. I commit my plans to you and may the work of my hands be pleasing in your sight. Amen.
