I think this past week in the reading plan has had me feeling a little bit schizophrenic at times. What I mean by that is that when I do my reading plan in the morning, I’ll start with the reading from Numbers and I’ll find myself feeling frustrated with the Israelites for failing to understand and comprehend how incredible and faithful God truly is. However, after reading that, I flip over to Romans and then find myself realizing that I’m actually the one who has a limited view of the magnitude of God.
This past week in Numbers a lot has happened. On the positive side of things, God provides some guidelines for various aspects of life, the Passover is celebrated, God’s glory covers the tabernacle in the form of a cloud, God sends quail for the people to eat, Moses appoints elders, God miraculously makes Aaron’s staff produce buds and blossoms and God miraculously brings water out of a rock. Despite all of these good things going on, the Israelites seem to still mess things up... They just don’t get it! The people complain and rebel multiple times in this short collection of chapters. As a result, God exercises His absolute authority and brings judgment on them. He sends a plague, sends leprosy, lets them lose in battle, He sends fiery serpents and He even makes the earth swallow some of them alive.
It’s wild to read about the Israelites complaining and wishing that they could be back in Egypt in complete slavery and oppression. I can’t even begin to fathom how that makes sense in light of the fact that the sovereign God that created the universe has freed them and has proved His power and faithfulness to them on so many occasions. Yet, the Israelites continue to question His plans and His ability to provide and care for them.
This doesn’t make any sense to me, but then I realize how much I often have in common with the Israelites. I mean, God has done so much to show me how amazing and faithful He is. And beyond that I even have all of the stories in the Bible to read about how loving and caring He is. Yet I often still look to my own thoughts, ideas, and opinions rather than His. In essence I am questioning His judgments and His ways.
As I read Romans I continually get confronted with the truth that God’s ways truly are unsearchable and that I will never be able to fathom His mind and the depths of His wisdom and knowledge. This is the kind of God that we can completely trust and obey no matter what the circumstances are that we are facing. Life might not make any sense to us, but God continually reminds us of His goodness and faithfulness. Romans 8:28 reminds us that He works all things together for good and we need to trust that truth rather than continually trying to apply our own standards and parameters to the ways that God is working
.-Ryan Guerra
(Associate Pastor)