By Pastor William Y. K. Brown Ph.D
(Resident Pastor)
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Osu-Bethel.
Tel: 0244165628/0243310773.
wykbrown@gmail.com
WEDNESDAY
THEME: HAS THE LORD’S HAND BEEN SHORTENED?
SCRIPTURE: Numbers 11:23
“And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
REFLECTIONS
The people of Israel were very ungrateful and complained so much that God and Moses were displeased. Therefore, God consumed some of them with fire at Taberah (Numbers 11:1-3). Shortly after the Taberah experience, the mixed multitude also began another round of vehement complaints and protests – their beef was the lack of meat in their diet. They had an intense craving for meat, and instead of requesting appropriately and politely from God, they complained and insinuated they would prefer to be in Egypt to being on the exodus because they said in Numbers 11:5, “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;” Unfortunately, this misbehavior got Moses questioning why God had laid the burden of the people on him alone and even wished he were dead (verses 11-15).
God assured Moses that He would provide them with the meat they craved. Unfortunately, Moses, the man of God who had performed many miracles, even doubted the possibility of fulfilling the promise. Human weakness at work, even in the man of God. Numbers 11:21-22 records, “[21]And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ [22]Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” God responded in verse 23: “And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” God asked a pertinent question to assert His power to deliver on His promises. God indeed provided quails in abundance for them (verses 31,32). If God is in control, there is no cause for alarm.
God gets peeved and displeased when any of the human beings He has created continues to give life to and provides for doubt His willingness to care for their needs. What is unpardonable is when, amid our troubles, He comes close, yet we fail to recognize His presence and interventions. If God were to leave us to our fate, Satan would mercilessly mesmerize, brutalize, and destroy us just so we miss eternal life. Not many people, especially Christians, understand or appreciate the whole meaning of what Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Reflect on the statement a bit more. The devil will do anything and everything to cause us to forget God’s marvelous deeds and instead focus on the bitter experiences we go through sometimes. The real danger of the Christian life is when we become overly worried about what we shall eat and other daily needs. Therefore, God’s constancy and favor towards us should never be underestimated or denied.
Come to think about it, why are some people so appreciative and thankful to God, whereas others, despite the enormous blessings, remain ungrateful, pessimistic, and blind to His providence? Do you know the value of sleeping in the night and waking up in the morning? Do you recognize and treasure the spiritual and social relationships that give you prominence and make your life worth living? In every situation and occasion, God is interested in standing by us, provided we will acknowledge Him so He can take charge. When God comes around, He desires to be the driver, not the driver’s mate. You cannot be the driver and make the Lord your mate. Jesus deserves the front seat, not the back seat. More importantly, and you must admit, the Lord cannot trust you to reach your destination of bliss without His help. The question is, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened?”
MY SONG OF COMMITMENT
SDAH 297 – “God Be Merciful to Me” – From Songs of Everlasting Joy
LET US PRAY
– Praise and thank God for His presence in all your situations; thank God for life and His provisions; pray for faith to trust Him even amid deprivation;
– Pray for Christians who doubt God because of their circumstances and cause others not to believe in the power of God; pray for your family and church members to remember the goodness of the Lord;
– Pray to support true leaders of God’s people not to give up or doubt God in the face of challenges; pray for the world to see the privilege Christians have in trusting God;
– Pray that the “mixed multitude” in Christendom would not cause the wrath of God to fall on us; pray for God’s miracles in our lives to provide for the needy, deliver the suffering, and save the lost.
