It takes two

 I woke up this morning refreshed.  It's the first time in a long time I woke up not struggling with some things that have been trying to creep back in.  Lately, I've been reminded that the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt when their journey got hard.  The book of Numbers, chapter 11 records the story this way:

Fire From the Lord

11 Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah,[a] because fire from the Lord had burned among them.

Quail From the Lord

4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

7 The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. 8 The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. 9 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.

10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”

16 The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.

18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

21 But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”

23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”

24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.

26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”

29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 30 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits[b] deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers.[c] Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah,[d] because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.

Footnotes

1. Numbers 11:3 Taberah means burning.
2. Numbers 11:31 That is, about 3 feet or about 90 centimeters
3. Numbers 11:32 That is, possibly about 1 3/4 tons or about 1.6 metric tons
4. Numbers 11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah means graves of craving.

So the rabble (interesting word choice here) longed for what they had and not what God provided.  Anybody else feeling the Spirit doing a little convicting here?  How often have I been guilty of that in my own walk?  We don't want the hard things, the waiting, the struggles, do we?  We want easy, plenty, routine, safe.  If you're looking for safe, you're not looking for Jesus.  Jesus is good.  He is God.  He's not safe.

I read a little passage from The Chronicles of Narnia the other day where the children are about to meet the lion king.  They asked someone when they found out if he was a lion if he was safe.  The reply was that the king was a lion.  Of course he's not safe.  But he's good.  I've not read these books but I do know they're an allegory tale of Christ.  The thing I was reading was about how following God isn't the safe thing.  There ARE going to be troubles along the way.  But they're not something you face by yourself.

Things here are the usual crazy, but the thing that was different this morning was that I went to the Bible study at my new church.  I did my part to try and fit in.  A couple of gentlemen there were very kind and talked to me.  Made sure to invite me back.  I have some things in common with one of them.  The lesson was one I needed because already this morning some of the key points have been pointed out to me in other ways.  

I think sometimes the danger in our walk is that we decide what's best for us and then expect God to bless it.  I wound up where I'm at (not geographically, by the way, but in some relationship issues I'm having with someone) because I forgot to ask God and decided to TELL God what was best for me.  Yup, puny human deciding what I wanted was better than what He wanted.  

So I can relate to the rabble.  Some of the same reasons I did what I did are still there.  But if I've learned anything in the last seven years, it's certainly that forward is forward, even if you have to claw forward inch by inch, and that when you get to do it over, it's pretty stupid to do the same thing and expect different results.

Sometimes, what needs to change is me, and one of the changes I need to make in my life is how I deal with stressors.  It's easy for me to overeat.  It's also easy for me to long for things that I know are not good for me.  I want the cucumbers.  I'm not going back for cucumbers.

This morning brought a little note and a Facebook friend request from the pastor at the new church.  They're doing their part.  I'm doing mine, and it's amazing to me that once you have that connection established, start to feel like you're part of the community of believers that makes up a church, how much easier life feels.  It's a great feeling to know that my new home is starting to feel like home.  Just having that makes going back to Egypt a lot less attrac