Beyond the Weekend

April 11 | Ground for Complaint

April 11, 2016

Numbers 11.1-35

“The Land Between” is the peninsula lying between Egypt and Canaan (the land promised to Abraham’s descendants). God’s people, the nation Israel, had been enslaved in Egypt four hundred years before God raised up Moses to lead them into the Promised Land.

No sooner had they left Egypt then they rebelled against God by making an idol to worship. God’s response was to make them wander in “the Land Between” until the last rebel died. Behind them was Egypt where food was plentiful; ahead was the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.

While the Land Between was barren desert, God provided food every day in the form of flakes (manna) that appeared with the dew. They gathered it, baked cakes, and that’s all they got.

Sometimes we are in the Land Between: you just graduated from college with no job in sight; real estate is your livelihood and this year you’ve sold five homes. You’re stuck in that barren place between “what was good” and “what will be good, again.”

The Land Between may look barren, but it’s really fertile ground for some dangerous things. One is complaint. God blessed Israel’s need for food with a daily miracle. But Israel constantly complained, remembering the delicious food in Egypt, and saw God’s provision as unsatisfactory, and belief in him not worthwhile. Complaining against God is serious stuff, because you’re saying you don’t trust him.

As you begin this week, consider things you complain about. If you’re in the Land Between or not, ask his forgiveness, for strength to persevere, and eyes to see how he’s actually blessing you.

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