Psalm 106:24,25
“The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them. Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord”
These verses fascinated me the first time I read them. The Israelites had just crossed the Red Sea on dry land, they had seen the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night leading them, they had seen water come from a rock; and yet, they wouldn’t believe God was going to care for them! Not only would they not believe God was going to care for them but, because they wouldn’t believe, they sat in their tents and complained—not even entering the pleasant land!
As crazy as what the Israelites did might sound, I think we have the tendency to do the exact same thing, or at least I do! They saw God do great things, they saw God provide, but because they wouldn’t trust Him they stayed in their tents instead of entering the pleasant land. I can do that too sometimes.
I will see God provide or I will see Him make a way through things that seem as impossible to cross as the Red Sea, only to turn around and worry about whether or not He will provide during the next challenge! Instead of dwelling in Him and His promise we stay where we are and complain and worry. God has promised us He will never leave us or forsake us, He said He will take care of us, and yet we won’t leave the place of complaining and enter into His promises.
The Israelites had a choice, they could live in the land God had promised to them, they could believe that He would continue to lead them and be their provider, or…they could stay in their tents, not enter the land promised to them, and worry about what was going to happen if they set foot outside of their tents.
We have that choice to make too. We can live in fear and worry about what will or won’t happen next, we can complain about how bad things are and how much worse they could get, or…we can trust God. We can trust that He will continue to lead us and provide for us, we can trust that He will keep His promises, and we can trust that He will never give us more that we can handle. Just as God didn’t force the Israelites into the Promised Land but rather He let them complain away in their tents, He won’t force you to trust Him, you getto choose to trust Him.
What will you choose? Will you choose your tent or will you choose to enter into the Promised Land?
“Give allyour worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Imperfect Pearl 