I have been reading through Numbers the last few days. Yes, the fourth book of the Bible, appropriately named because of the many references to how many people there were… And I have been really into it. You may be thinking this is the moment for the ‘are you kidding me?’ but its not.
Today I read though the account of how the Israelis pushed their luck with God so much and so often that it ended in them having to wander the desert for another forty years before they were given the chance to enter into the promised land. From Moses’ brother and sister, to key leaders in the nation to the entire population, they consistently challenged Moses and God in their authority, plan and ability to care for them despite the supernatural happening in their midst on a constant basis.
When I read of how Moses and God would keep giving the other responsibility for the nation it struck be as both funny and tragic that at moments both were ready to disown or wipe them all out. I thought that both of them, when faced with the latest challenge or complaint de jour would respond either out loud or at least think: “Are you kidding me?”
Are you kidding me? That is a question full of incredulity, a ‘you can’t be serious’ response to astonishingly brazen and ignorant challenges. When you are watching a cheap horror movie and like in every movie of the genre, the characters blindly walk into rooms to meet their demise, you want to yell at the screen ‘are you kidding me? why would you wander around a house you know their is a killer in? I am reading through the passage saying the same thing; are you kidding me? Why are you challenging Moses and God both whom have proven themselves repeatedly?
But then the other shoe dropped. God seemed to be saying to me in that moment – are you kidding me? why do you not trust me when I have proven myself to you over and over again?
Darn.
Should have seen that coming. Why do I challenge God so often? Why don’t I rely on his judgement and direction more readily? How come I can obstinately stand there in front of the God who created everything and push back?
What are you going to do with that He says to me…
Well I certainly don’t want to wander in the desert for 40 years so…. I think I’ll go with your plan!
How bout you? Ever feel like God is shaking his head at you saying are you kidding me?
The Living Experiment 
Too many times to count, Geoff. Thank goodness He hangs in there with me. He does that because He knows I really want to walk with Him. I just get off the track and need nudging to get back with Him. It isn’t always wanting my own way. Sometimes it is just hard to stay on track because the decisions to do so seem difficult or impossible. After the fact, you find out it is even more difficult when you derail! J
This hit the nail on the head for me! Wow…that’s so true…that part about God being right in their midst and working, yet they STILL challenged Him and His power…that totally caught my attention…same deal: “Wow…how could they possibly do that? I mean seriously, for real?” But wow…you’re right, God is still constantly working in our midst but somehow we have moments of losing our faith in Him. Hmm…I’m going to be really conscious of that now. Not only do we have no right to challenge/doubt Him, but we have no REASON to! Thanks for this post, P. Geoff!! 🙂