Monday 9 October 2017

Being honest with God

The Israelites were fed up with manna every day and Moses was afraid for his life.

So, Moses complained to God - and God answered supernaturally.  He sent meat - quail.

In a sense, the story in Numbers 11 is funny.  But Moses took the mini-revolt seriously.  He knew how his followers felt about the endless flow of the same-old manna God had sent from heaven to feed the several million Israelites in the barren desert.

I have been thinking about this story since our pastor highlighted it in a sermon last Sunday.  For me, it illustrates the importance of going to God with every need and being honest in prayer.

As our pastor pointed out, it wasn't possible to grow food in the desert.  So, the Lord dealt with the Israelites' hunger by sending every morning a fresh batch of manna which the Bible says looked like resin and tasted like coriander seed.

After a while, the people started angrily saying: "If only we had meat to eat!  We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost!  Also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.  But we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"

The people got so riled up that they stood in the doorways of their tents and wailed.

Moses was naturally bothered by this and he knew the Lord was upset with the people and their ingratitude.  He knew how the Lord felt because he was always in close touch with God.  He spent hours in the Tent of Meeting praying and receiving guidance.

The Israelite leader then emptied his feelings to God.

He asked the Lord: "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant?  What have I done to displease you that you have put the burden of these people on me?"

He asks God where he can get meat for the people.  He declares he can't do it on his own.  And he goes so far as to say to the Lord: "Please go ahead and kill me . . . and do not let me face my own ruin!"

God answers immediately with a divine solution.  He tells Moses to gather 70 elders in the Tent of Meeting so that he can bestow the power of the Spirit so that they can help him bear the burden of leadership.

And, amazingly, he arranges a giant wind to blow in quail so they lie in heaps about three feet high.  The people have their meat but there are later consequences for their ingratitude.

What do I take away from this prayer story?

Jan Johnson, author of Enjoying The Presence of God, writes:

"If we believe that God is grand enough to love our flawed self, we can speak the truth to him about what we feel - anger at others, disappointment with ourselves, resentment toward him."

God wants the "real" me in prayer - not the "pretend" me.  He is my father and he understands me better than I understand myself.

This story also tells me that he wants me to bring everything that bothers me to him.  Maybe he is disappointed by my lack of faith or trust that he will bring me through.  But he is patient and ready to help.

I love the apostle Paul's advice in Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

When Paul says we are to bring "everything" to God in prayer, he means "everything".

What a loving God!


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