Called To Rejoice Part Two

 Numbers 11

Now the people began complaining openly before the Lord about hardship. When the Lord heard, His anger burned, and fire from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So that place was named Taberah, because the Lord’s fire had blazed among them.

4 Contemptible people among them had a strong craving for other food. The Israelites cried again and said, “Who will feed us meat? 5 We remember the free fish we ate in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now our appetite is gone; there’s nothing to look at but this manna!”

7 The manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of bdellium. 8 The people walked around and gathered it. They ground it on a pair of grinding stones or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot and shaped it into cakes. It tasted like a pastry cooked with the finest oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.

10 Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents. The Lord was very angry; Moses was also provoked. 11 So Moses asked the Lord, “Why have You brought such trouble on Your servant? Why are You angry with me, and why do You burden me with all these people? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so You should tell me, ‘Carry them at your breast, as a nursing woman carries a baby,’ to the land that You swore to give their fathers? 13 Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying to me: ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I can’t carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me. 15 If You are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now. If You are pleased with me, don’t let me see my misery anymore.”

16 The Lord answered Moses, “Bring Me 70 men from Israel known to you as elders and officers of the people. Take them to the tent of meeting and have them stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit who is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.

18 “Tell the people: Purify yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you cried before the Lord: ‘Who will feed us meat? We really had it good in Egypt.’ The Lord will give you meat and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or 10 days, or 20 days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and cried to Him: ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”

21 But Moses replied, “I’m in the middle of a people with 600,000 foot soldiers, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ 22 If flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?”

23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited?  You will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you.”

24 Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He brought 70 men from the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed the Spirit on the 70 elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they never did it again. 26 Two men had remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad; the Spirit rested on them—they were among those listed, but had not gone out to the tent—and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

28 Joshua son of Nun, assistant to Moses since his youth, responded, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”

29 But Moses asked him, “Are you jealous on my account? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place His Spirit on them!” 30 Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel.

31 A wind sent by the Lord came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them at the camp all around, three feet off the ground, about a day’s journey in every direction. 32 The people were up all that day and night and all the next day gathering the quail—the one who took the least gathered 50 bushels—and they spread them out all around the camp.

33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord’s anger burned against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague. 34 So they named that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved the meat.

35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth and remained there.

Have you ever set back and realized how picky we all can be?  Seriously, we all have been there and still do it from time to time, including yours truly.  We complain about drivers going to slow or going to fast.  We complain about our steak not being done just right.  We complain about the speed of our internet.  We complain that the fast food line is too slow.  Do you catch my drift?  We live a life day by day and complain.

We shouldn’t be this way though and I think all of our hearts attest to that.  Let’s look at what Moses experienced with the Israelites.  Here the Israelites literally saw the mighty hand of God!  The Israelites experienced God do miracle after miracle to liberate them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them to the promised land that God had promised to them and their descendants.  What did  they end up doing?  They basically said, “God, we know you’re providing this miracle manna to feed us and sustain us, but you know, I’m a little tired of it, can we get some steak?”  Sound familiar?  We do this all the time with God.  We ask God to bless us with finances, health, etc and when He does, it still doesn’t seem enough sometimes to some of us.  We will continue to grumble and complain waiting for more.  

I had a conversation with a friend a while back ago and they were complaining because their air conditioner was out in their home.  They were able to get a repairman and even had the funds to pay for it, but they were going to have to go a couple days without air conditioning.  You would have thought that the world had come to an end.  I reminded him of the time when we were both little boys and we didn’t have air conditioning in our homes.  I reminded him of putting fans in the windows and just running around in shorts to cool down.  I reminded him how we never thought any different of it when we were kids.  We just enjoyed life and we enjoyed the blessing of having a home.  That is the kind of rejoicing we are called to do as Christians.  When we begin to think of the tough times in our life, we need to stop dwelling on the tough times and remember the many blessings that God has given us.  Fast food line not going fast enough?  How about praising God and rejoicing that you have a car to be in the fast food line with, that you have enough money to pay for the fast food, and that you even have fast food available as an option.  Is the Internet not fast enough?  How about thanking and rejoicing in God that He has given us even the ability to have the internet and we are able to live in this awesome time.  

As Christians, we are called to be content in all things.  Many Christians know Philippians 4:13, but they have a tendency to forget the two verses before.

11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Now, that’s hard and as I mentioned before, a lot of us deal with depression.  When we are in the throes of depression it’s hard for us to find the positive. So, let’s look at Moses.  Did you read the last section of the chapter?  Moses was so distraught because he, like the children of Israel, witnessed the mighty hand of God and yet, it seemed like he couldn’t catch a break.  Moses felt so distraught that he actually asked God to kill him..verse 15.

So, when we feel this way, how should we react?  The same way Moses did.  We reach out to God.  We pray to God.  God wants to hear from us and God is big enough to hear our hearts.  He already knows them anyway.  When we come to Him, He will be faithful because He is always faithful.  He took care of Moses through his distraught by giving him helpers to deal with the children of Israel.  God will also give us help when we need it as well.

We need to do as Moses did as well and take every thought captive and again, rejoice in the Lord for everything rather than complaining.  Look at the results of Israel’s complaining.  Oh yeah, God provided meat, but He provided so much meat that they became gorged and sick on it.  We need to rejoice every day for every bit God provides for us.  When we feel down and out and just deeply depressed, we need to go to God and He will comfort and provide for us.