That night all the people in the camp began crying loudly.

Numbers 14:1 (NCV)

Joshua and Caleb have just returned with the other ten spies. They claimed that the land was all God had promised it would be. How did Israel respond? They cried. These were not tears of joy.

All the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

Numbers 14:2 (ESV)

We’ve got a bunch of whiners! God has already brought a rather large number of people out of slavery in Egypt. Why were they slaves? They forgot who they were. How did they get free? They remembered who they were.

Not only are the Israelites whiners, they have short-term memory loss. All of these people who walked on dry land through the Red Sea, these people who had experienced one of the greatest miracles of all time had, again, forgotten who they were.

Have you ever felt so sure that God had promised you something? Maybe it was something you read in your Bible or a word given by a pastor or prophet. You take that word to heart. You trust God with it. You believe it will come to pass. And then it does, but it isn’t what you thought it would be. Do you get mad at God? Or do you trust that He knows what he’s doing?

We already know that God had set up the Promised Land for an easy knock out. It was ready for them, but Israel was not ready for the Promised Land. They wanted the easy way. They wanted their way. Like a two-year-old having a temper tantrum, Israel fell on the ground, pounded their fists and demanded that they get their way. So, in turn, God treated them in accordance with their actions. Because they disobeyed, they didn’t get to see the promise fulfilled.

What has God promised you? Have you seen a glimpse of it? Did it come in the package you thought it would? What steps do you need to take to see it fulfilled? Are you going to pound your fists on the ground or will you stand up and take hold of your promise?

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

Numbers 14:24 (ESV)

Follow God fully. Possess the promise.

Daily Bible reading: Numbers 14-15, Mark 6:1-32