The story of the 12 spies being sent into Canaan is one of the most well-known and instructive stories of the Old Testament. But our understanding of it will be incomplete without a little background information.
Two chapters earlier, we read something that sets us up for greater understanding. According to Numbers 11.1, “The people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord.”
Of course, this was not the first time they’d complained. That started early, before they even got to Mount Sinai. They complained about the water. Then they complained about the food. God got their attention by sending fresh water and manna. Then He really got their attention by shaking a mountain with His voice and giving Moses the Law.
But now they’re back at it again. Manna isn’t good enough, they want meat. Their incessant whining begins to wear on Moses, so he takes to complaining, too.
God is still merciful and gracious in His provision, though He may seem, at first glance, a little passive-aggressive about it. He sends them meat, but listen to what He says, “You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it”. (Num 11.19-20)
Here’s why I’m bringing this up, it’s hard to scare people who are filled with gratitude for the blessings they have. If they had spent as much time thanking God for what they had as they did complaining to Him about what they lacked, they would have been less likely to believe the bad report brought back by the majority of the spies.
Gratitude is linked to hope. Gratitude remembers how God delivers on His promises. Gratitude thinks about how God brought them out of slavery, provided water in the desert, and provided manna faithfully every morning.
Their discontent made them almost incapable of believing that God would help them gain possession of the Promised Land. No matter what God gave them, freedom from slavery, supernatural guidance, the civilizing effects of the Ten Commandments, food, water, hope and a future, it was never enough. Discontentment, complaint, ingratitude, these are the real killers of God’s people. Long before the spies brought back a faithless report, the Israelites had imbibed the toxic spirit of grumbling against God and against His appointed leader.
You are created in God’s image. You have a body that probably works most of the time. You have a heart that beats and lungs that breathe, and likely eyes that see and ears that hear. You have a God who loves you and has adopted you into His family. You have a future home with Him forever, guaranteed. You have access to God’s Word, God’s Family, God’s Future. You have been given gifts that can be used in eternally significant ways. Even when you mess up, God loves you and accepts you anyway.
Value what you have. Even more than that, value the God who gave you all that you have. Give thanks to Him for life and breath and food and water and warmth and the means by which you are able to read this blog.
You do that, and it’ll be harder for you to believe a bad report when one comes along.
Father, I acknowledge that I often approach life with a deficiency rather than a sufficiency point of view. I realise that when I fail to acknowledge Your many tender mercies, I lose my joy and contentment and slip into ingratitude. Help me to see that when I grumble and murmur, it is not ultimately about my circumstances, but about You and Your provision. Teach me that gratitude must not be left only to spontaneous moments, but must be chosen every day. May I review Your many gifts and blessings in my life, including those I have too long taken for granted. Teach me that gratitude relates to trust and obedience, for I cannot trust You when I am murmuring and grumbling about my life and circumstances. I choose this day to thank You for Your innumerable kindnesses to me, because I have done nothing to deserve them.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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