Patient Trust

Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – July 12, 2018

By Tripp Prince

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” Numbers 20:12 (NIV)

Have you ever struggled to trust the Lord? You may have seen him work mightily in your life in the past, and trusted him greatly as a result, but now wonder if he is even there at all. You feel as though prayers go unanswered, relationships remain broken, and trust may never be restored.

In Numbers 20, we find the people of Israel in this place of desperation. Having seen God work a miraculous deliverance from the hands of their oppressors in Egypt, they now find themselves caught between where they were and where they want to be. Don’t we often live our lives in similar places? Free from where we once found ourselves, yet struggling to get where we ultimately want to be. And though we long and hope for a bright future, the further away it seems the more we wonder if we were better off before? As the Israelites say to Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (Numbers 21:5)

When we fail to persevere in hope and patient trust, bondage begins to look like freedom. We lose sight of the Promised Land and fail to appreciate God’s provision and care for us. What God intends as a blessing we instead reject as a curse.

What might God be teaching you in your long wilderness season? How can you press into seasons of trial and learn to trust God in those times rather than in spite of them? When we are tested, our natural inclination is to run away, to flee anything that causes us pain and discomfort. Yet rarely do we become the women and men God calls us to be without learning to follow him through seasons of great challenge.

Though uncomfortable at the time, it is in these places of desperation that we learn what it means to truly trust God. We rest in his promises and believe that he will not leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). It is a daily opportunity to trust that God knows more than we do and is working for our good, even when we struggle to understand or make sense of it. It is easy to trust when everything is going our way, when we are living in the land flowing with milk and honey. The real test of character comes when we trust God in the wilderness, believing that even in times of great need, he is with us and will always provide.

“Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Genesis 28:15).

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