And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”
Numbers 21:5 (NKJV)
Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt like you were wandering in the wilderness?
Some people often complain when they find themselves in situations where everything seems difficult or even impossible. They feel like they are going around in circles with no way out. The people of Israel experienced this same situation with God in the wilderness, except that it was the result of their rebellion against God who freed them from slavery in Egypt. God protected them, fed them in miraculous ways. But that did not stop them from complaining and always wondering why?
How many miracles did they witness to understand and believe that even though God had taken them into the wilderness to test them, He had not abandoned them. They forgot the brutality they had suffered and the lack of care that God spared them by bringing them out of Egypt. We all express this same ingratitude towards God when we are faced with a difficult situation. Instead of remembering all that He has done in the past, we ask Him in our prayers why He brought us into the wilderness when He could have left us where everything was going well for us.
When you forget the blessings that God has poured out on you in the past, the pitfalls that He has avoided you and the care He has given you to complain, it is like telling God that nothing He does is enough for you. The trials of the wilderness have their place in your life, they can discourage you like the people of Israel, but remember that God is in control. That is why Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:11: "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come." You have the people of Israel as an example, learn from their mistakes to trust God in the midst of the wilderness of your life.
May the grace and peace of God be with you all.
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