God's Anger Burned [Numbers 11]

1Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

 2The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out.


 

The people kept forgetting about the many ways that God had continued to provide for their needs. They forgot His miracles and His perfect guidance and instead focused on what they did not have. This led to grumbling and complaining among the people God had so graciously delivered and cared for every day of their journey out of Egypt. Even with the cloud by day and the fire by night, the people forgot God's constant presence in their midst. God's response was a burning anger towards the people.


God hates to hear us complain and grumble and once it starts, it can spread through a community of people quickly like a forest fire in the hot summer. Unfortunately, complaining is as natural as breathing to our flesh and apart from God's grace through Jesus, we can do nothing else even by our best efforts in the long haul. Thankfully, because of Jesus, we are protected from God's burning anger and are forgiven no matter how grumbly we might be. But grumbling robs our joy in the Lord and makes us and the people around us miserable. It also keeps us from intimacy from God unless we take our complaints to our loving God and ask Him to replace them with His contentment. He loves to answer that prayer!


We praise You , God that through your grace we can keep our eyes on you and be people who are grateful recognizing that we are truly well graced every moment of every day no matter how hard our circumstances may be. Cause us to remember You each morning and to get our eyes back on You through Jesus by spending time in the Word and in prayer and to be a people who live in the truth that we are well graced.

 


Beth Warlick, 7/21/2010