Do not doubt or groan...trust and Go!

Imagine for a momment that you have a coworker who is always on time for work...actually he is always early for work.  He makes the first pot of coffee, so everyone has coffee to drink when they come in (just barely on time or a few minutes late).  He has never called in sick in all of his years at the company (and he's been there far longer than anyone can remember).  This coworker always keeps people informed when he is going out of town or on vacation and even makes certain that his duties are taken care of while he is away.  He is the dependable guy, the guy who everyone knows that if he says he will get it done, it gets done...no matter what.  If you asked this person to do something for you, my guess is that if they said "yes", you would be completely at ease about the task being completed...afterall, there is a long track record of successes that support this hypothesis.  I'm sure we all have people that popped into our minds when describing those dependable characteristics. 

The irony is that as humans, we seem to have a propensity to trusting other humans more than trusting God.  You see, the above "person" is actually an analogy for how God takes care of us...yet as humans, we tend to doubt that God will come through for us.

Tonight's Scripture: See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’ “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’ Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God, who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go. (Deuteronomy 1:21-33 ESV)

So let's get this straight, The Lord brought His people out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, destroyed Pharoah's army, Led the people with pillars of fire and smoke, gave them manna to eat...and then even after wondering the wildnerness for 40 years, the whole time God taking care of them, the time finally comes for them to enter into the promised land.  What happens...Humans trust their own intuition instead of God's word.  They even sent 12 people to go check it out and make sure it was good and they were like "This place that God is giving us is good!"...yet still they grumbled and complained, and even after being reminded of all the great things that God had done for them.  The people were still reluctant to enter into the land promised by God.  They became afraid, almost as if looking for reasons to not inherit God's promised land.

Why is it that humans find it so easy to follow after and believe in men/women, than they do to seek after God?  God has a perfect record of delivering on His promises.  God has always been, He provides, everything is His and in Him is everthing.  Here we are thousands of years later, and in many instances, it is still obvious that it is easier for us to believe the promise of a coworker than a promise of God.  Simply put, this should not be so.  When God tells us to go...it may not be easy, we may not know all the details, and it may be scary...however, based on His perfect track record, doesn't it make sense (even outside the fact that it is God) that we should listen.  Shouldn't we believe that based on all of our experiences with Him, that He knows what is best for us and that He will use whatever the situation is to not only glorify Himself, but to draw us closer to Him (a very desirable thing for those who are Christ followers).  

To put it all into perspective, try to look at trusting God like trusting your closest friend, most dependable coworker, etc.  There is no doubt.  That is what faith in Christ is all about.  It's a bit like that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when he takes the first step out onto the invisible bridge. What is God calling me/you to do?  What step of faith is He calling us to?  If we can answer those questions right now...the clock is ticking...GO!  God is in control, step out in faith and know that the God of all the universe has got it.  He will fight for you...do not doubt, look at all that He has done for you already!