 |
| Photo source: takebackyourtemple.com |
Yesterday, I thought I'd be able to slip past a little Bible story unscathed as I was reading it to the children over breakfast.
It seemed to be a little harmless section of text, buried in Numbers chapter 11, where God's people are complaining about eating manna every day and wishing they were back in Egypt so they could eat meat, fish, and vegetables.
But God knocked me over with TWO of His precious principles during this story and cut.me.to.the.core friends.
Isn't that just God's way? To use a basic children's devotional to bring us adults to our knees!?
You too are probably familiar with this story: the Israelites complain about always eating manna and want to eat meat, sooooo God provides them with a boat-load of manna until it is coming out of their nostrils. End of story (or so I thought).
Well, what first made a deep impression upon me in this passage is how mightily and definitively God provides. He provides abundantly. In His time. In His way. And He does it to ultimately reveal the loves of our hearts.
The Scripture tells us that God sent out a wind that drove quail in from the sea, which resulted in 3-feet deep of quail, as far as the eye could see in every direction (see Numbers 11:4-34). Now that is a LOT of quail!
You see, if God wills it, it will show up.
Are you worried that you won't find a job, get into your school of choice, have enough money to cover the bills? God will provide, dear one. If He wills it, He will bring it in; He will make it happen. He governs all. I can just see all these crazy birds being swept up in a wind from all the far-reaches of the planet, landing in that one spot. A-maz-ing. Is there anything our God cannot do??
But that is not all God had to teach me from this story!
As we keep reading, we see the Israelities going out, night and day, gathering up the quail, which causes God's anger to burn against them and He strikes them with a severe plague.
What! Hold up! Why? Why is God angry with them? Didn't He provide them with the quail to be eaten?
Ahhhh...but we must dig down to the heart level, just like God always does. Just like with the manna, it seems as though the people were trusting in themselves again. Relying upon their own efforts to gather and store crazy large amounts (the least amount listed in the scriptures would be the equivalent of 60 laundry baskets full!!), instead of resting in God's provision with thankfulness and joy. And as we've discussed before, God's anger always has a redemptive purpose, to bring them back into a right relationship with Him.
And so the Scripture tells us that this place was named Kibroth Hattaavah "because there they buried the people who had craved other food." (Numbers 11: 34)
Now, what does "Kibroth Hattaavah" mean in the Hebrew language?
Graves of craving.
And there you have the second principle that just knocked me down and took the wind right out of me yesterday.
Can you see yourself in this story? I know I do! Craving, striving, storing, working for the things that I ought to trust God to provide.
Oh, how my heart craves all sorts of crazy things that distract me from the Lord!
Clothes, make-up, jewelry, craft supplies, rich food--why, just yesterday, my heart was craving cleaning supplies, for crying out loud!! (in my defense, Norwex just launched their new fall catalog and ooh my, those new colored cleaning cloths were just so.on.trend!)
Lawd, have mercy.
Hey friend--today--let's you and me climb out of our grave of craving today and find satiation in God alone.
Let us bow down before God Almighty and tell Him how much we love Him, need Him, want Him...and only Him...today.
Let us confess the sickness of our hearts, of our western materialistic-consumeristic culture, that demands we "need" brighter, better, newer things.
Let us marvel at God's amazing provision, with awe and wonder.
I don't know about you, but I do NOT want to "live" in a grave of craving. Oh no. I want to truly live and run in the strength of God's power to sustain and nourish my soul.
Will you join me?
No comments