“So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, ‘If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’  So they said to one another, ‘Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.’” Numbers 14:1-4

 

It’s time to listen with ears of faith

 

Oh my!! For 40 days this group of people had been waiting to hear the report on the land God was telling them He would give them. For 40 days, they should have been getting excited to receive the spies back and hear the great news! For 40 days they should have been telling and retelling the stories of how their great God had rescued them from slavery by miraculous means… not just one miracle, but MANY!

 

If they would have only concentrated on the goodness of God, and celebrated that their leaders Moses and Aaron followed God’s leading as proven by the way God delivered over and over again, and awaited with expectation to see the next awesome thing God was going to do, they would have had the right hearts to hear with when the report came. But instead…

 

They heard the report with ears of doubt and skepticism. They latched onto the bad rather than the good. They listened to men who saw only with their eyes of humanity and not eyes of faith. They completely shut out the voices of the two men who tried to encourage them to trust in God and do what God was telling the people to do-GO OCCUPY THE LAND! In fact, because Caleb and Joshua wouldn’t stop telling them what they didn’t want to hear, they talked about stoning them… killing them to shut them up!

 

There are voices of discouragement around us every day. There are those who would discourage us from moving forward into what God is calling us to. They tell us the “giants of the land” are too great. They see only the limits of the physical, not the potential for the miraculous. They can convince us circumstances are more than God can overcome. They don’t phrase it like that, but really it’s what’s being said: “I'm afraid you'll regret that decision…” or “You don’t have the resources to…” or “You can’t because…” or…

 

The truth is, we should be doing what the Israelites should have been doing while they were waiting. When we are awaiting the next big thing God wants to do, we should be encouraging each other with reminders of how awesome God is, testifying of what He has done, celebrating the leadership of those in our lives who listen to God. We should be listening to the encouraging voices, rather than the discouraging ones! We need to see with eyes of faith and not allow the limitations of the physical to stop up the miraculous God wants to display.

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Do we really want to go back to the old familiar, but enslaving ways? Or do we want to listen in expectation to hear from God, trusting that no matter what the physical circumstances look like, we can with great confidence go and occupy the new land? I say, "Let us go!!"

 

Reminder:  When God’s telling us to move, let’s listen to the Calebs!

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.’” Numbers 13:30