THE DELAYS IN THE PLAN OF GOD BEING FULFILLED IN OUR LIVES
So many of us know to trust the Lord, be obedient to his statutes, have faith. At the same time, we persist in living in negativity - daily worrying, murmuring, blaming, criticising and fearing. Often, we ourselves are blocking the joy and peace that the Lord wants to give us, our disposition delays the plan of God to be fulfilled in our lives.
The account of the Israelites journey from Egypt to their eventually arriving at the Promised Land has so many important lessons.
(Extracted and organised from Fr Bobby’s sermon)
- The Israelites had left Egypt over a year ago, and on the 20th day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year, they left Sinai. Then, after a 11-day journey, they reached Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran.
- Kadesh is at the border of the land of Canaan, just across from the Promised Land (Jos 15:3).
- It would have taken no more that 2 days to cross the border and reach the Promised Land. Instead, they took 38 years.
What delayed the plan of god from being fulfilled in the lives of the Israelites?
- Num11:1-3 Now when the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled. Then the fire of the Lord burned against them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 But the people cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire abated. 3 So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned against them.
- COMPLAINTS - The Israelites complained about their troubles, they were not ready to accept their struggles, they were not seeing the presence of the Lord with them daily, they did not want to accept his timing. Instead, they complained and were full of negativity. This is a lack of trust in the Lord.
- Num 11:4-6 The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
- Num 11:33-34 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah because there they buried the people who had the craving.
- MURMURING - The Israelites murmured unhappiness about having only manna to eat. They took God's provision for granted, unhappy with the blessings they receive. Instead of giving thanks, they were craving for meat. Disliking blessings is akin to disliking the giver of the blessings. This is a lack of love for the Lord. They craved for things that are not there but not seeing the blessings that are in front of them and not thanking God sufficiently.
- Num 12:1-2: While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married and they said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it
- Num 12:6-9 And he said, “Hear my words: When there are prophets among you, I the Lord make myself known to them in visions; I speak to them in dreams. Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house. With him I speak face to face— clearly, not in riddles; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.
- CRITICIZING AND BLAMING - Aaron and his sister criticised Moses who is the authority the Lord himself had instituted for the Israelites. Rom 13: 1-2 says "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." Criticizing and accusing the authority is disobeying the authority of the Lord. This is a lack of obedience. And because of this leprosy struck Miriam, and again, this was another factor that slowed down their journey.
- Num 13:30-33 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. 33 There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
- FEARING – Moses had sent 12 leaders to set out from Kadesh to survey the land. When they returned after 40 days, only Caleb and Joshua reported that they were ready to fight the strong inhabitants and conquer the land. They were proclaiming their faith in God. All the rest gave negative reports saying that they found the land rich and fertile but the people were too powerful for them to overcome. This is a lack of faith. This means forgetting the mighty things God had achieved for them - when confronted with problems, to very easily forget the Lord's mighty deeds - instead they concentrate on the problem, exaggerate the problem and being afraid of the problem. This is a rebellion against the Lord's power.
- FEAR is a rebellion
- The Lord told us no less than 365 times in the Bible "do not be afraid". When we are afraid, it is a rebellion against the power of teh Lord. We forget the great things the Lord has done for us.
- FEAR is despising the Lord
- Num 14:11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?
- When we face a problem, a trouble, a difficult situation - if we become negative, if our tone is negative, if words of despair flow from our mouths, when we have negative thoughts - this is a rebellion against the Lord, a despising of the Lord.
And because of the Israelites rebellion - their lack of trust, lack of faith, lack of love and lack of obedience – the Lord would have struck them with a plague (Num14:12) if not for Moses’ intercession claiming the promises of God, reminding the Lord of His promises and mercy. And so the destruction did not happen, but the Lord sent them backward (Number 14:25). The Israelites were at the edge of the promised land, just a day or two journey. But they would take another 38 years to eventually reach the promised land.
THE DELAYS IN OUR OWN LIVES
This is true in many of our lives - going backwards because of our negativity – our daily worrying, murmuring, blaming, criticising and fearing.... We are unable to go forward; by our very own words, we block our own journey towards the fulfilment of God’s will in our lives. How many days of peace and joy are we robbing ourselves of? How much the Lord wants His plan to be fulfilled in our lives?
Psalm 95 is instructive, it brings to us the 3 ways we should approach God
- Psalm 95:1 praise
- Psalm 95:2 thanks
- Psalm 95:6 Worship
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