Thursday 9 August 2012

'Yet how quickly they [the Israelites] forgot what He [the LORD] had done!  They wouldn't wait for his counsel!' Psalm 106:13

Why?  Why wouldn't the Israelites wait for God?  He'd just rescued them from slavery.  Proved that he could be trusted.  Demonstrated his love.  And yet at every hurdle they quivered.  At every hunger pang they moaned.  And at Mount Sinai the waiting became too much and they made a gold calf.  As the Psalm goes on, 'They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull'.

I find it so easy to judge them.   'Well,' I muse, 'if I'd seen what they'd seen and experienced what they'd experienced, I'd trust God.  Easy peasy.'  And yet the moment I face  difficulty in my own life, I panic.  And worry.  I pray and then unless God answers immediately, I question whether he's big enough to care for me.  'Sure,' I subconsciously think, 'he's cared for me before.  But what about this?  This is a new problem.  This is something serious.  Maybe he won't or can't or just doesn't love me enough...'  And then I try and solve the problems by myself.

From the moment my son was born I have fed him and clothed him and comforted him when he's in pain.  And yet imagine if I found him crying this morning and asked what was wrong (he doesn't actually speak yet, but let's wave that for the moment) and he replied, 'Mummy it's nearly lunch time and I scared that you won't give me lunch.'  'But darling,' I would protest, 'have I ever not fed you?'  'No,' he might reply sighing, 'but there's always a first time'.  It would be heart-breaking!

It's a ludicrous analogy, and yet God is my father and I'm sure spends his time being equally hurt and baffled when I panic and worry and sigh and basically don't trust him to take care of me.

The Psalm continues with this verse, 'The people refused to enter the promised land, for they wouldn't believe his promise to care for them.'  For the Israelites the promised land symbolised freedom - from their enemies and to be set apart as God's chosen people.

When I refuse to believe God's promise to care for me, I sacrifice my freedom.  I deliberately allow myself to be held in chains by fear and anxiety.   So, my challenge for today is trust that God will provide for me.  And act on that trust by refusing to worry.  How?  By bringing every worry to God.  Every single time.  It's not easy.  But you know what?  I'm not going to worry about it!