The Israelites followed the Lord
when the cloud lifted from the Ark and settled again when the cloud
of God stopped. But this proved to be tiresome. They had to break
and set up camp a number of times and soon enough they didn't want
to follow the Lord anymore. They started doing what they do best,
complaining. They complained about their hardship to one
another.
God didn't take their complaining
lightly and His anger blazed against them. Fire from the Lord raged
among them and destroyed the outskirts of the camp. The people came
screaming for help to Moses and when he prayed the fire
stopped.
Now interestingly enough only a
verse later (Numbers 11:4) they started complaining again, this
time about the manna that they have to eat, they were sick and
tired of it! They wanted meat! Now Moses was also getting
aggravated and he said to the Lord:
"Why are You treating me, Your
servant, so miserably? What did I do to deserve the burden of a
people like this? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these
people? They keep complaining and saying, 'Give us meat!' I can't
carry all these people by myself! This load is too heavy! I'd
rather You killed me than treat me like this. Please spare me this
misery!" Numbers 11:11 - 15
It was very interesting for me to
note, that God killed some of the Israelites when they complained,
but He helped Moses when he complained. He helped Moses by
selecting seventy other leaders and also putting His Spirit on them
to help Moses with his burden. Now why did He help Moses, but He
killed the Israelites who moaned?
It is because the Israelites moaned
amongst one another and didn't take the problem to God and
discussed it with Him. They could have approached Moses and said
that they were really tired and that they needed a rest and some
water or whatever, and Moses could have presented the problem to
God on their behalf. But they didn't, they murmured and complained
amongst one another and bemoaned their lot. Moses on the other hand
presented his problem to God and asked God to relieve him of his
burden. And that is why God helped him but didn't adhere
to the moaning of the Israelites.
We too tend to discuss all our
problems with our friends and family and we tend to bemoan our lot
especially if we feel that we have been unfairly treated. But that
is not the right order. Of course we can discuss it with people
close to us and receive advice from them, especially if they are
God fearing as you are, but we need to go to God first. He should
be the first One that we discuss our problems with. He should be
our pillar of strength and no one else. He has after all the best
advice, as He is the only One who has the bigger picture in mind. I
am sure the Israelites would not have moaned as much if they could
have seen the beautiful Promised Land that they are about to
conquer and how wonderfully the Lord will look after them there.
With such a prospect in mind, the little hardship they had to
endure now would seem trivial.
And the same is true for us. God
has the bigger picture in mind and is in the top position to give
you the best advice and even more than that He can also help you if
you'll let Him. Remember that next time you encounter a problem and
run to God first.
Father, please forgive us that we
tend to discuss all our problems with those closest to us and not
with You. We want Your advice instead, as we know that it would be
the best advice. Help us to rather focus on You and Your plans for
us. Thank you Jesus. Amen