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The Danger of Trying to Help God Out

He Doesn’t Need Our Help, Just Our Cooperation

God doesn’t need our help; just our cooperation. When we try to perfect his work, we end up taking his glory for ourselves, and that is always a dangerous path to tread. We must simply let God be God, and trust him to bring glory out of our situations in his way and in his time. Wherever you need God’s help—with a difficult spouse, a rebellious child, a harsh boss, an irritating co-worker—let God be God. He will do a much better job than you!

Going Deep // Focus: Numbers 20:7-12

The Lord said to Moses, “You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.” So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”

I feel for Moses on this one—I really do. Put yourself in his sandals: he’d led these rebellious, complaining, sin-prone Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness up to this point in the most miraculous way possible. He had mediated the ten plagues, parted the Red Sea, negotiated a daily supply of manna, strategized victory over enemies, delivered the Ten Commandments and clearly wore the approval of God on his shining countenance. Yet the people continued to complain about his leadership and doubt God’s record of provision.

Now they were complaining about having no water. And they were blaming Moses. And they were blaming God. And they were so misguided in their emotions that they actually talked about how glorious it had been for them during their slavery in Egypt. They were a difficult bunch, to put it nicely.

In response to this, Moses initially did what a good spiritual leader is supposed to do: he went to God. He an Aaron walked into the Tabernacle and fell flat on their faces before the Lord. And God graciously revealed his glorious presence to them once again. But not only that, but once again, God also provided a plan to reveal his greatness to the people by providing water from a rock. Moses was to call the people together and demonstrate to them once again the glory of the Lord and his gracious supply.

That is where Moses lost it. He called the people together, and understandably, he angrily yelled at them for their rebellious distrust of God. To make his point, he struck the rock rather than simply speak to it as the Lord had commanded. Moses’ emotions got the better of him, and instead of simply letting God do the supernatural in the most natural way, he thought he would help God out with a bit more dramatic flair.

Graciously, God still granted water from the rock, and both people along with livestock were rescued. Moses saved the day! But wait, Moses disobeyed the clear instruction of the Lord. And for that, God’s harsh punishment was to ban Moses from entering the Promised Land with the Israelites. Now to us, this seems like disproportionate punishment for a single, understandable sin, but God is God, he takes sin seriously, and he had his reasons for denying Moses what he had worked forty years to accomplish.

Now I suspect you think God was too hard on Moses. Me too. But we don’t know the whole story, so we will have to trust God on this one, since he never makes mistakes, and he is always kind, but his ways are too deep for us to always understand. I suspect, however, that one of the deal breakers in this incident was that in striking the rock, Moses took glory to himself rather than deflecting it to God. And God will not—let me repeat, will not—share his glory with another:

I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. (Isaiah 42:8)

But wait—there’s more to this story. Fast forward to Luke 9 and you will see that through the grace of God, Moses actually got to experience the Promised Land in a way that the original entrance into Canaan could not compare—not by a long shot:

Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.  Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.  They spoke about his departure, [literally, his exodus] which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:28-31)

Now how cool is that! Moses, who had taken God’s glory from himself, and received the just punishment for it, now appeared in God’s glorious splendor inside the Promised Land. Moreover, he spoke with God the Son about a true and better Exodus, the deliverance for the entire human race from the ultimate bondage of sin and death through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Moses got to experience in far greater fashion than what he was originally denied.

So let me suggest a couple of polar opposite applications here from this interesting story: First of all, God doesn’t’ need our help; just our cooperation. When we try to perfect his work, we end up taking his glory for ourselves, and that is always a dangerous path to tread. We must simply let God be God, and trust him to bring glory out of our situations in his way and in his time. Wherever you need God’s help—with a difficult spouse, a rebellious child, a harsh boss, an irritating co-worker—let God be God. He will do a much better job than you!

Second, if and when you blow it, taking God’s glory for yourself, and taking the consequences that follow, it will be painful. But look for God’s grace. As John Newton said, “We serve a gracious Master who is able to overrule even our mistakes even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.” Don’t step on God’s lines, but when you do, hold out for grace.

God’s doesn’t need your help! He wants your cooperation!

Going Deeper With God: If there is an area of your life where you have been treading on God’s role, back off, repent and trust!

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The Ashes of the Red Heifer

A Powerful Prophetic Photograph of a Better Way

While some have manufactured eschatological mystery over this esoteric teaching about the ashes of the red heifer, simply put, this ritual required a ceremonially clean person to sprinkle a ceremonially unclean person—one who had touched a dead body—with water mixed with the heifer’s ashes, sprinkling them with a hyssop branch. But while this unusual ritual had meaning in the context of ancient Israel, more importantly, it was a powerful prophetic photograph of a better way that God had in mind to purify us once and for all through the cleansing power of Christ’s blood — thank God, the real and permanent answer to our defilement.

The Journey // Focus: Numbers 19:9-13

The ashes of the red heifer will be kept there for the community of Israel to use in the water for the purification ceremony. This ceremony is performed for the removal of sin. …This is a permanent law for the people of Israel and any foreigners who live among them. All those who touch a dead human body will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. They must purify themselves on the third and seventh days with the water of purification; then they will be purified. But if they do not do this on the third and seventh days, they will continue to be unclean even after the seventh day. All those who touch a dead body and do not purify themselves in the proper way defile the Lord’s Tabernacle, and they will be cut off from the community of Israel. Since the water of purification was not sprinkled on them, their defilement continues.

Holy Cow, this is a strange one! Right up there with the lost Ark of the Covenant, there is much mystery surrounding the Ashes of the Red Heifer among those who traffic in the apocalyptic. In a nutshell, the cultic belief concerning this one is that the original ashes of the red heifer have been preserved since Old Testament days, and the reappearance of these ashes is needed to institute the sacrifices of the rebuilt temple—the third temple that many believe will be physically rebuilt at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

As I said, holy cow! Indeed, this is a strange belief that has absolutely nothing to do with how the end times will play out. But apocalyptic authors, whose tribe have certainly increased in modern times, are certain to get a lot of miles out of this manufactured mystery as they fabricate their junk eschatology and sell a few books, to boot.

Nevertheless, what are we to make about this teaching on the ashes of the red heifer? Allow me to offer a few observations. First, among the many unusual rituals God established for his people, this one is arguably one of the strangest. Unlike any other sacrificial animal, this animal was to be slaughtered, not sacrificed, and burned in its entirety. The Asbury Bible Commentary on this chapter summarizes it as follows:

Then the heifer was totally incinerated while the priest watched (Numbers 19:5). The red hide of the heifer symbolically added to the quantity of blood, as did the red cedar wood and scarlet wool (Numbers 19:6). Thereafter the ashes of the heifer were stored outside the city (Numbers 19:9), ready to be mixed with water and sprinkled on anyone who had become ritually impure due to corpse contamination (Numbers 19:17-19). The whole ritual is described as a purification from sin (Numbers 19:9).

Now think about this in a practical way before we consider the theological implication: Israel was a new nation in an ancient, war-scarred, barbaric world, fighting their way through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. There was a lot of death. Many Hebrews died, and of course, a whole lot more of their enemies died. There was also a great deal of death among the community of Israel from natural causes, and likewise, as punishment for their rebellion, upwards of two-million Israelites would die off during their forty years of wandering.

In a very practical sense, death was a reality of life. A a consequence, there was contamination from the bodies of the dead. And since God is a God of life, death and handling of the dead brought spiritual defilement that required separation from the holiness of God. While it may seem a strange way to deal with the dead, God ordered his people to handle corpses through this ritual practice as a way to keep his people distinctly his, set apart as holy unto himself. In this, God graciously gave the Israelites a way to deal with their dead, as every culture in every era must do, in a way that satisfied the needs of a community to grieve their loss and initiate the process of closure while at the same time recognizing the requirements of a holy God who cared enough about their loss to provide a process for their grief.

Yet theologically, this ceremony for dealing with the dead pointed to a more powerful death—the death of Jesus Christ. While in the situation described in Numbers required a ceremonially clean person to sprinkle the ceremonially unclean person or thing with the water of cleansing (water mixed with the ashes, sprinkled with a hyssop branch), the cleansing power of the blood of Christ is specifically contrasted as a much more effective and permanent answer to our defilement:

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:13-14)

Indeed, how much better is Jesus’ death as a cleansing agent that arguing over some manufactured mystery about the ashes of a red heifer. 1 John 1:7-9 reminds us, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

I’ll take the blood of Jesus Christ any day.

Going Deeper: Think about 1 John 1:7-9. Now, how grateful for you that Jesus is your perfect, one-for-all sacrifice? Why don’t you tell him that!

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Divine Protection — From God Himself

Thank God for Jesus, the One Mediator Between God and Us!

As I read through the Law of Moses, I’m so grateful that I don’t live under the Levitical system, where I (and I’m quite sure, you as well) would need Divine protection from God himself. We simply don’t think of God’s righteous wrath like that, but in the days of the Exodus, God had to make it plain to this new nation, the Israelites, that he was utterly holy, and that certain violations of his holiness meant death for both priest and people if they violated that holiness. Fast forward to today, and thank God for Jesus, our Great High Priest who, on the cross, bore the full measure of God’s righteous wrath that our sin deserved. Jesus is all God’s people will ever need to keep them safe — from their own sin and from a holy God. Yes, thank God for Jesus, the One Mediator between God and us!

The Journey// Focus: Numbers 18:5-7

The Lord said to Aaron, “You are responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”

To begin with, I am thankful that I don’t live under the Levitical system, where I (and I am quite sure, you as well) would need to be protected from the Holy Presence of God. We simply don’t think of the righteous wrath of God like that, but in the days of the Exodus, God had to make it plainly clear to the Israelites that he was holy, and that certain violations of his holiness meant death for both priest and people if they violated that holiness. Thank God for Jesus, our Great High Priest who bore the full measure of God’s righteous wrath on the cross.

Yes, at just the right time, Jesus showed up and changed it all. There’s a new sheriff in town, friends, and we don’t need to protect ourselves anymore. Jesus will do it!

So with that in mind, since you are a believer in Jesus Christ, or at least I assume, I am going to fast-forward past this section and point you to the book of Hebrews, where we find the New Testament’s reinterpretation of the Old Testament Levitical system. Hebrews 7:15-16,19 says,

Jesus, a priest like Melchizedek, not by genealogical descent but by the sheer force of resurrection life — he lives! — ‘priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek’ … Jesus! — a way that does work, that brings us right into the presence of God, is put in its place. (The Message)

You will have to read this whole chapter, slowly and absorbingly, I might add, plus several chapters surrounding this one to grasp what the writer of Hebrews is getting at, but here is the gist of it: He is going to great lengths to remind his readers that Jesus is all they will ever need! He is the all-sufficient, indestructible one, our Great High Priest.

The problem was, the Hebrew believers to whom he wrote were facing increasing hostility for their faith in Christ, and some of them were being tempted to fall back in line with the old Levitical system. So the writer sets out to convince them of the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the Old Testament system of priests and sacrifices. One of his strongest arguments was that even way back before God gave these instructions to Moses, the father of the Hebrew faith, Abraham, even gave tithes to Melchizedek, a type of Christ, thus proving Jesus is greater than the Hebrew system.

Throughout this entire letter, the writer makes a splendid and convincing case for Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest. Among the many things that he teaches about the priesthood of Jesus, here are three that ought to encourage you today:

First, as a high priest, Jesus is on your side. Hebrews 6:19-20 says, “We have this hope [in Jesus] as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”

Knowing that Jesus is on your side gives you an incredible emotional and spiritual strength to live the victorious Christian life, especially during trying and tempting times. And while you may not think about it much, he actually protects you from the utter holiness of God—a holiness that cannot tolerate even a single, “small” sin.

Second, as a high priest, Jesus will provide the power for you to stay the course. Hebrews 7:25 says, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

You ever wonder what Jesus is doing now? That verse clearly says he is continually before the Father, representing your cause. What a thought—Jesus is your personal intercessor making sure the Father, rather than punishing you as you deserve for the sins you have committed, is granting you everything you need to stay faithful and live victoriously.

And third, Jesus is more satisfying than any other temporary fix that you might be tempted to trust. Hebrews 9:27-28 says, “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.”

Trusting in any other religious system, even the Levitical system of sacrifice, would be settling for an infinitely distant second best. In fact, if you were to put your trust in any other, you would be relying on a system that frankly cannot do a thing to give you eternal life. And it was never intended to do so. Rather, it was intended to show that ultimately, it was only Jesus who could save!

Do your realize what good news this is? Jesus is your personal high priest, and it doesn’t get any better than him. You need fear neither the power of sin nor the righteous wrath of God. So bring your broken, sin-prone, unworthy life to him, he has made you and keeps you perfect through his once-for-all sacrifice.

Going Deeper: Here is a prayer that I would invite you to offer today: Lord, how awesome that you ever live to intercede for me. What encouragement and strength that brings to my spirit. I offer up my gratitude to you, O faithful High Priest. You are worthy to be praised.

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Thin Ice: God’s Patience Has A Limit

It's Best Not to Wear God Out

God has a limit, and it’s best not to push it. He has given us ways to pour out our frustrations with his methods—prayer; ways to voice our concerns about human leadership—respectful debate; ways to speak our mind over grievances—Matthew 18. But there is a point when God says, “trust me on this. I’ll handle it in my way and in my time. In the meantime, submit to your current circumstance—consider your hardship as my Fatherly discipline.” At that point, is best not to wear God’s patience thin by continuing to push your grievance!

The Journey // Focus: Numbers 17:1-5

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff.  On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you. The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.”

I grew up in the era where parents still disciplined their kids for misbehavior, in a physical sort of way, if you get my drift. At least mine did! And one thing my siblings and I learned after several encounters with our father’s approach to corporal punishment was that there was a thin line of parental patience that we dare not cross. We could crowd the line—which we did, early and often—but we were wise not to step beyond it. It took several missteps, but eventually we got it. And once we did, we settled into sort of a parent-child détente, if you will. Childhood was much more pleasurable for Ken, Bill and Ray (by the time our little sister Teresa came along, she seemed to live under a different set of discipline rules than we did—boo—but that’s for later).

One of the things that the child of God learns along the way, if they are wise, that is, is not to wear God’s patience thin. Of course, God is patient, and kind. He is the gold standard of longsuffering, for which we all should continually say, “praise the Lord.” He finds no pleasure in punishing his wayward children, but as some point, like a good parent, he must punish our sins in order to teach us to live in a manner that is glorifying to him and health-giving to us. Deuteronomy 8:5 reminds us,

Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.

Numbers 17 is a continuation of the story from the previous chapter where some of the so-called leaders of the new nation of Israel are challenging the leadership authority of Moses and Aaron. In particular, Aaron seems to be the butt of their jealousy. Numbers 16:1-3 sets the scene,

Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”

What we learn in this uprising, and others like it throughout Scripture, is that the protest is not against a man, in this case, Moses or Aaron, but against God himself. You see, Moses didn’t elect himself to be the president of Israel, nor did Aaron anoint himself as the nation’s preacher. God chose them. So when the other leaders, for whatever reason, criticized the current leadership structure, they were in reality criticizing the Lord himself. They were showing disrespect and distrust of Almighty God, even if they were unware of what they were doing:

Moses said, “It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?” (Numbers 16:11)

Now to be transparent, Moses himself, had learned this very lesson the hard way. Remember when God met Moses at the burning bush and called him to lead the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt? (Exodus 3-4) Moses thought himself quite unqualified for the job, thank you very much, especially since he had already failed miserably in delivering Israel from Egypt forty years prior. But God had now come to him in a burning bush—a burning bush for crying out loud—and Moses was actually arguing with the miracle of God’s fiery presence. And after quite a few protestations, God’s patience with Moses wore dangerously thin:

But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” Then the Lord became angry with Moses. (Exodus 4:13-14)

Similarly, in Numbers 17, the other leaders who were questioning God’s choice of Aaron found the limit of God’s patience. And wisely, they backed off, which was a good thing, since God said of them, “This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” (Numbers 17:10)

The point being, God has a limit. And it is best not to push it. It is best not to make him angry. He has given us ways to pour out our concerns about his will and his ways. It is called prayer. He has given us ways to voice our concerns about human leadership. It is called respectful debate. He has given us ways to speak our mind over grievances and hurts that others have inflicted on us. It is called Matthew 18. But there is a point when God says, “trust me. I will take care of this in my way and in my time. In the meantime, submit yourself to your current circumstance—consider your hardship as my Fatherly discipline.” At that point, is best not to wear God’s patience thin by continuing to push your grievance!

It is best not to wear God’s patience thin! You do not want to cross the line from the Fatherly discipline of hardship and discomfort to Divine punishment. A wise child will figure out when that is—and learn to back away from the line in loving trust.

Going Deeper: Have you been pushing the limits of trust by refusing to accept the things that you cannot change, and that God has refused to change for you? Give that some thought; it is an opportunity for you to grow in patience and trust.

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Give Your Leader a Break – It’s Biblical

Submission To Authority

Give your spiritual leader a break! The next time you’re frustrated with that leader, or tempted to join someone who is criticizing them, just remember what Hebrews says: “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as those who must give an account.” Though they are not perfect – perhaps far from it – they are on assignment from God. What we learn several times from Moses, particularly from Numbers 16:11, is that when a  person rejects the authority of the spiritual leader God has placed over them by complaining, criticizing, comparing and/or creating a rebellion against them, it is that person who will have to answer to God.

The Journey // Focus: Numbers 16:1-3, 11

One day Korah…conspired with Dathan and Abiram…they incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly. They united against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the Lord’s people. …Then Moses said, “The Lord is the one you and your followers are really revolting against!”

Just as we have learned in previous chapters about complaining (Exodus 15, Leviticus 6, Numbers 14), so criticism and rebellion against a spiritual leader is tacit rebellion against God himself:

The Lord is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! …these men have shown contempt for the Lord. (Numbers 16:11, 20)

Let this be a warning to all of us who follow Christ. God has placed spiritual leaders to watch over his people. They are charged with caring for them, protecting them from predators, representing their needs to God, representing God’s will to them, and leading them to accomplish God’s mission on Planet Earth. God always works through human leaders.

It is true, as Korah and Company pointed out, the spiritual leader that God has placed over the spiritual community, big or small, is no better than the people they serve. All of God’s people have been set apart. Yes, God is with them all. Korah was right.

But Korah was wrong to assume that there was no difference between Moses and those he led. He was mistaken in thinking that just anyone could lead. He failed to understand that not all had been set apart to administrate God’s presence among his people and to ensure those people were following in the ways of God. You see, not all had been taken into God’s confidence as the representative of the people—only Moses. Not all had been given the leader’s measure of authority to use for the good of the people—only Moses. Not all had been called to surrender their lives for the well-being of the flock they lead—only Moses.

You see, God has ordained a leader to lead his flock, and that leader alone is accountable to God for the faithful execution of the duties of leadership.

So when people reject the authority of the leader by complaining, criticizing, comparing and/or creating a rebellion, God will remove his covering from that person and they will suffer the consequences. In the case of these usurpers in Numbers 16, their punishment was instantaneous death in the most dramatic fashion: the four leaders of the uprising, along with their families and everything they owned were swallowed up by the earth while the 250 prominent people who sided with them were instantly vaporized by holy fire. Never has God made such a point about his desire that we submit to spiritual authority as he did on that day.

Now God may no longer execute judgment that quickly and dramatically toward against those who criticize and rebel against the spiritual authority that he has placed over them, but make no mistake, at some point, those who rebel have set up a blockage to God’s blessing. I am not predicting what the consequences might be—sickness, financial lack, loss of influence, family rebellion—but “don’t be misled—you cannot mock God. You will always harvest what you plant.” (Galatians 6:7)

Rebel against God’s authority and you will pay a heavy price. So let me make my appeal to you: honor your leader. Hebrews 13:7 and 17 says,

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. …Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Next time you are frustrated with your spiritual leader, or are tempted to go along with someone who is criticizing them, just remember what Hebrews says: “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.”

Give your leader a break. Not only do they have to watch over their own soul, they have the impossible task of keeping you holy and presenting you perfect before Christ.

Going Deep: Take a moment to express your thanks to God for the leaders he has placed over you to tend to your soul. Then take some time this week to write that leader a note expressing your love, support and gratitude.

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Remind Me Again

It Helps To Keep First Things First

What do you do to remind yourself of what’s important? Those of us who are married wear a wedding band to remind us of the sacred covenant we made with our spouse before God. In my church tradition, our spiritual community receives communion once a month to remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross to redeem us, parents go through a child dedication ceremony as a reminder that the child in their arms is on loan from God, and converts go through the waters of baptism to remind themselves and the world that they now belong to Jesus. Reminders are a holy thing. Not that the symbol or the ceremony is in itself holy, but the act is holy in the sense that it reminds us of God’s right over all that we are and all that we possess. Keeping that perspective is arguably the most important spiritual priority that we as believers have. Reminders help us to keep the main thing the main thing, namely, that the Lord himself is our life.

The Journey // Focus: Numbers 15:37-41

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!”

What do you do to remind yourself of what’s important? In the days before smartphones with pings that remind us of calendar events, some people would tie a string around their finger as a reminder of an upcoming appointment. Those of us who are married wear a wedding band to remind us of the sacred covenant we made with our spouse before God. In my church tradition, our spiritual community receives communion once a month to remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross to redeem us. We also take people through membership classes to remind them of their commitment to God and their part in Missio Dei of our church; parents go through a child dedication ceremony as a reminder that the child in their arms is on loan from God; converts go through the waters of baptism to remind themselves and the world that they now belong to Jesus.

Reminders are a holy thing. Not that the symbol or the ceremony is in itself holy, but the act is holy in the sense that it reminds us of God’s right over all that we are and all that we possess. Keeping that perspective is arguably the most important spiritual priority that we as believers have. Reminders help us to keep first things first, the main things the main things, namely, that the Lord himself is our life.

And reminders are not just human inventions, mnemonic devices that we, either by being legitimately creative or patently corny, conjure up to assist our faulty memory. Reminders are God invented. Throughout Scripture God called his people to set up reminders of his covenant, his provision, his intervention, his holiness and his grace-filled love: stones of remembrance, holy days and sacred feasts, sacrifices and ceremonies. In this particular story, God called his people to do something that we might consider quirky, if not silly, with their clothing: they were to attach blue tassels to the hem of their clothing.

Now in our day and age of high fashion and advanced textile processes, this doesn’t impress us. In fact, it seems rather cultish, typical of what those strange orthodox Jews do. But keep in mind the time and setting of the people of Israel. Attaching blue tassels was no simple thing. It required extra effort and skill. It also offered the one who made the garment a chance to display some fashion artistry, and the one who wore it to be a bit of a fashion plate—all in the best sense of artistry and fashion. But mainly it was a reminder of something special.

For one thing, wearing the blue tassels reminded the people that they were special. In the ancient world, clothing was essentially plain, unless you were a person of standing. It could have meant that the wearer was a priest or royalty. The tasseled clothing identified that person within their communities and to the outside world as something special. In this case, the Israelites were being distinguished by God as his very special and treasured possession.

But for another reason, the tasseled clothing reminded the wearer and the watcher that God was special. While we wearing clothing to draw attention to ourselves, in this case, God wanted them to wear clothing to draw attention to himself. Specifically, the effect that it was to produce in drawing their attention to God was that he had ownership over their lives, and as a result, deserved their complete and continual obedience and demanded from them a lifestyle of holiness. Listen to how God himself instructed them:

The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!

The point being, God still wants our obedience and our holiness. He still desires and deserves that we live in continual awareness that we are his, that we belong to him. And furthermore, times have not changed since the days of the wilderness journey in the sense that we still forget this most important truth, and therefore still need to set up regular reminders that God is special, and since he has chosen us to be his own, has called us serve his purposes on earth, and has consecrated us in holiness to be his distinct people, we are special, too.

So the question is, as much as you have good intentions not to forget this, what can you do as a regular reminder that you are God’s and God is yours? I am not suggesting blue tassels or a string around your finger or a ping on your smartphone, but it might be as simple as using your weekly worship attendance to recalibrate your thoughts toward what makes you so special.

If you don’t like my idea, and can’t come up with your own, go get some blue thread!

Going Deeper: Give some creative thought to how you can set up ongoing reminders of how special you are to God, and how special he is to you.

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If You Are A Chronic Complainer, Then Your Issue Is With God!

Trust Your God—You Give Him No Greater Gift

The underlying spirit of complaint is that we don’t trust God’s sovereign plan that has allowed us to be in the undesirable state about which we are protesting. It indicates that we don’t trust his power to see us through and accomplish his purposes by those circumstances. Even if complaining is directed at people or situations, it questions his rule over us, and it is sin. And it can spread like a wildfire in the spiritual community, leaving the ashes of doubt, distrust and irreparable damage. In every circumstance, we must reject whining for worshiping the God who does all things well. There is no greater gift that we offer him than our trust, especially when times are difficult, enemies are great, and resources are few.

The Journey// Focus: Numbers 14:1-3

Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voice rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. ‘If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!’ they complained. ‘Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle?”

As the children of Israel neared their Promised Land, their leader Moses sent out twelve spies on a reconnaissance mission. They were to probe enemy territory for weakness in order to enable the Israelites army the best place to invade the land and the best strategy to conquer the inhabitants that held “their” land. Of course, it was expected that these twelve spies, having seen the mighty hand of God time and again extended on their behalf, would come back full of faith for the challenge ahead.

But when the twelve spies returned from their mission with a first hand report of the land, ten of them were of a pessimistic perspective, and they turned the whole community into complainers. Their field reports start off well—it was indeed an incredible land their God was giving them—but it quickly turned from the promise of fruit to the problems they would face, namely giants and warriors. And it quickly threw cold water on the faith of the Israelite community.

That is so true of negativity—it can spread with the ferocity of a wildfire.

In spite of all that God had miraculously done up to this point, the people focused on how difficult things were in front of them rather than on how awesome the Power was behind them. The people got down, then they got mad, then they complained about their leader. Then, unbelievably, they complained about God. Then, incredibly, they whined about going back to a life of slavery in Egypt.

In essence, they were saying, “God, we don’t trust your sovereign plan, nor in your power to pull it off. We don’t think you know what you’re doing and we don’t like one bit this mess you’ve gotten us into.” Though they didn’t say it quite that directly, that was the underlying spirit of their complaint.

The underlying spirit in all complaint is that we don’t trust God’s sovereign plan that has allowed us to be in the undesirable state about which we are complaining. Likewise, our complaining indicates that we don’t trust his power to see us through it and accomplish his purposes by it. That is why complaint, even if it is directed at another person or a situation, is really a complaint against the Sovereign Lord; it is a sin. Worse yet, complaining spreads like a wildfire, leaving the ashes of doubt and distrust throughout our the spiritual community. At all times and in every circumstance, we must reject spiritual temper-tantrums for tempered trust in the One who does all things well.

There is no greater gift that we offer to God than our trust—even when, or more accurately, especially when circumstances are difficult, enemies are great, and resources are few. In contrast, nothing disappoints God more than when his children complain, since it is in essence the worst form of distrust in the Lord’s goodness, wisdom, power and love. And this is precisely why God judges so harshly the deep and persistent complaints of the ones who should deeply and persistently lean into him.

As a friend of mine says, you are either a lean in-er or a lean out-er. I hope you are the former!

Going Deeper: Are you a lean-inner or a lean-outer? Do you trust or do you complain? Do you worship or do you whine? Re-read Numbers 13 and 14, then determine to offer yourself to God in complete, unshakeable trust.