Stick Together: Num 12-13

 

One of the things God hates more than anything is dissention.  In Moses's family squabble over his new wife God defends Moses personally.  God doesn't defend Moses' decision to marry a second wife, but he does defend Moses' authority.  It was her disrespectful attitude that caught God's attention and rightfully so.  Miriam and Aaron don't trust Moses' judgment about the woman he had married.  He saw a woman worth redeeming.  They saw a cursed people-group (remember the sons of Noah?).  The whole camp has to wait a week for the lesson to set in.

Then when the spies go up to search out the land they find a land with amazing abundance but they happen across several of their old enemies.  We saw the Amekelites earlier when they attacked the camp at a weak moment.  The Anakim were decendents of demons and were truly giants physically.  Goliath was one example of their decendents.

Those with eyes to see the natural circumstances saw only the barriers.  Those with eyes to see what God had spoken about them, these were enemies that God had already determined would be destroyed.  God had already said He would wipe out even the memory of the Amekelites in return for their treachery.  The children of Anak should never have been born and couldn't be blessed by God.  God had been waiting for the sin of the Canaanites to reach its full measure because He had already given the land to the children of Israel.  Joshua and Caleb saw themselves as tools in God's hand to do what He had already decided to do.  God had already taken down mighty Egypt.  In comparison, these enemies should be a cake walk for God, but for the Israelites that had come out of a lifetime of fending for themselves in abject terror, the thought of facing a new set of potential captors was just too much. 

We spent last weekend at a conference called Created to Connect.  It was focused on helping children from hard places like orphans and foster children overcome their fears and learn to trust and heal from the traumas of their past.  Their behavioral issues all stem from the terrors of their past and the coping mechanisms they created to protect themselves.  Even adopted children born into their new family's arms are affected in utero by the fear and trauma the mother is experiencing.  It leaves an imprint of fear that can last a lifetime if it isn't gently, patiently addressed by a caregiver that can reteach trust. In the groups they lead to help teach trust, there are three rules: 

1. Stick Together--no one gets left behind, left out or left behind
2. No Hurts--there's been enough hurt, don't let more hurt come from within
3. Have Fun--real learning happens most quickly in play.  It's how God designed us to learn

It's hard when a leader sees God's vision and his people can't see the way to get there.  That's when God takes a step back in His timing so that they can learn to trust Him.  Without that trust, they have no tools to obey with their whole hearts and things will go badly.  For those of us who are early acceptors and trust God well, it's hard to wait.  God loves both the bold and the timid.  He's not going to go forward knowing He's going to lose his children along the way.  In His profound compassion, He takes all the time they need, even if that means waiting for a funeral.  If you find yourself out of unity with your body (early or late) take time to see unity from God's perspective. 

So stick together...