A Little Fear and A LOT of Humility

"'Because the men who explored the land were there for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years ? a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. You will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy. 43 'When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD." Numbers 14:34 & 43

"Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 6. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5

I was struck at how harsh the words are in Numbers 14. Especially "You will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy." This section is focused on the Israelites grumbling after the spies came back from exploring the land of promise. Only Joshua and Caleb were full of faith and said move forward. The rest grumbled and it cost them the privilege of entering the land. They would wander for 40 years because of their sin. UGH! I truly never want to hear God say that zinger about me. I DON'T want to discover what is like to have God for an enemy because I know something very important...HE ALWAYS WINS!

That lead me to the humility angle from 1 Peter. God giving grace to the humble sounds much better don't you think? Him lifting me up whenever He sees fit sounds great to me as well and casting my anxiety on Him because He cares for me is an awesome promise of His grace. All of that sounds so much better than being His enemy and it seemed like a really simple solution. Here is how I summarize it.

If God says GO...I say, with a little fear and a lot of humility...which way and how far? If God says STAY...I say, with a little fear and A LOT of humility, where would you like me to be. If God says JUMP...I say, with a little fear and A LOT of humility, HOW HIGH and can YOU help?

A little fear and A LOT of humility goes a long long way. Have fun with it! LGLO, Pastor Peter