Help My Unbelief
Hello Bride of Christ,
God is a nostalgic God. He built our brains to contain 100 billion cells, and each neuron can form tens of thousands of connections with other neurons, allowing our brains to store memories, process information, and think creatively. God designed the brain to need reinforcement to convert memories from short-term to long-term. Repetition or a strong emotion associated with the memory will make the neuron connections stronger. So it is no wonder the Holy Spirit inspired its writers to remind their readers of specific events.
“But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord having saved the people out of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” - Jude 1:5
Paul, like the writer of Jude, uses the children of Israel’s shortcoming of unbelief as an example to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 10: 1-13. By remembering this example, we uncover the signs of unbelief. As believers in Christ, we do not outright say we do not believe God. However, our actions speak louder than our words. The following are signs of unbelief. God did not overlook them with the children of Israel, and He will not overlook them with His Bride.
One sign of unbelief is complaining, an expression of ingratitude or discontentment in an unjustified way. All through out the book of Exodus and Numbers we see the children of Israel complaining. They complained against leadership, Exodus 16:2, “Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Arron in the wilderness.” What were they complaining about? Food. Note this complaint came in only three days after crossing the Red Sea. Exodus 14:31 concludes, “Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses.” Then three days later (Exodus 15:22) they quickly forget and accuse Moses and Aaron for taking them to the wilderness to kill the entire assembly. On several occasions they complain against provisions, Exodus 15:24, “the people complained against Moses, saying “What shall we drink?” Exodus 16:3, “What shall we eat?” Then in Numbers 11, “Who will give us meat to eat?” They complained against God’s plans. After spying out the land of Canaan and hearing bad reports, the children of Israel complained (Numbers 14:2-3). After being given the victory over the Canaanites, the children of Israel complained against God and Moses (Numbers 14:5-6).
Another sign of unbelief is lusting, an intense and excessive desire or craving. Children of Israel lusted for provisions. They craved meat in Numbers 11:4 which led to the speaking of false memories. “We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; now our whole being is dried up, there is nothing at all expect this manna before our eyes!” (Numbers 21:5-6). See, the food wasn’t free for they were slaves in Egypt! They lusted for protection and guidance. When the children of Israel thought Moses had spent a prolonged time on the mountain speaking to God they created the golden calf as an idol for worship and even attributed God’s doings to it (Exodus 32). They lusted for carnality. The children of Israel did not keep God’s commands and sexual impurity plagued them (Numbers 25:1- 9).
God’s interpretation of the children of Israel’s behavior was, “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11) As a result, everyone who complained against Him fell in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29-38). They did not attain their inheritance because of their unbelief.
The writer in Hebrews summation of the children of Israel example is, “For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3: 16-19) Unbelief. They did not believe God was who He said He was. They did not believe nor trust God to be their provision or protector. They did what was right in their own eyes. As a result, they perished. It is not only a call to remember that our conduct reflects our spiritual state, but to remember our God’s character. His ways are best whether we understand it or see it.
Bride of Christ, the Lord desires to use us (you) to carry His promise forward. We are not called to perfection, so creating a list of do nots is not the application of this memory. Like the children of Israel, we see God do many amazing acts on our behalf. We see Him make ways in situations that seem impossible. We hear His word and experience its coming to pass. Yet, we forget. However, we serve and worship a compassionate God. As Jesus told the father in Mark 9, He speaks to us through the remembrance of the children of Israel’s battle with unbelief, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) Might this remind us to respond like the father did on that day, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) A list of rules will not change our unbelief; prayer and conversation with our Lord will. Take time the rest of this week and pray to Jesus. Dialogue with Him about your unbelief. Ask Him to call to remembrance scripture which highlights the root cause. Prayer. Access God’s throne today through prayer and have a different end than the children of Israel.
