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Hey Joy Fam!
Two weeks ago, I "finished" my series on the Promises of God. But... God wasn't done with this yet, so here we are! ;)
The scripture for today’s post is from Psalms 106:24-25:
24 The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.
25 Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord.
Psalm 106 focuses mostly on the Israelites’ history as a people. This Psalm describes how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt by parting the Red Sea and killing all of Pharoah’s army. Because of that, the Israelites believed in His promises and praised the LORD. But they forgot all the things He had done for them and became jealous of Moses and Aaron. Then they made a golden calf while Moses was getting the Ten Commandments from God. God was so angry that He wanted to destroy His people for their idolatry, but Moses stepped between God and Israel and pleaded on their behalf. So the LORD did not destroy His people, Israel. After God has spared them, they “refused to enter the pleasant land”. After verses 24 and 25, the psalm continues to talk about how the Israelites kept angering the LORD, but we will just focus on verses 24-25. Let’s look at this phrase by phrase.
The people refused to enter the pleasant land…
The Israelites did not want to move into the next season that God had prepared for them. God planned good for them. He had proved Himself infinitely powerful by rescuing them from Egypt, and they had good reason to trust Him. He had planned to bring them into a PLEASANT land, after all!
I am SO guilty of not wanting to move into the next season. I trust that God is preparing a new season for me AND I am scared of the unknown. But God says, “Trust me Kaela. I am going to bring you into a pleasant season (a pleasant land)! Will the next season of life be easy? OF COURSE NOT, but when has life ever been easy? Kaela, I have been faithful to keep my promises countless times! I will never let you down”.
Guys, you can trust God. He has been faithful for ages past, and He will be faithful FOREVER. Please trust Him.
…for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them...
The Israelites had proved themselves to be very shallow in their belief in God.
I really like to trust God right after I have a mountaintop experience. Once God has proved His power, I’m like, “God I’m ALL IN”. And then after a couple days, I seem to forget all about the amazing thing He just did. I realize that I need to trust Him through the everyday moments: as I wake up, as I work, as I have fun, as I do all the everyday things. After God has provided for me, or done something amazing, I need to dwell in His power. His power, after all, is the only thing that will carry me through life.
…Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord.
The Israelites just wanted to stay comfortable in their land, in their homes (tents). They grumbled and REFUSED to obey. They did not wait expectantly for what God was going to do. They just sat lazily and declared that they would not obey God.
It’s so easy for me to stay in my same old routine of relationship with God. I tend to complain to God because I think my life sucks and I just want God to fix my life. Sometimes, some aspects of my life really do suck, like when I want to hug my friends, but we have to stay six feet apart. But just because a lot of things are bad doesn’t mean I should dwell on the things I don’t like about my life. Our Enemy, Satan, wants to steal both my joy and your joy (John 10:10). Negative thinking is one of the tools Satan uses to take our joy. Don’t let him win! Instead of brooding over the things you hate, give your complaints TO GOD and ask Him to change your heart. Ask Him to show you where He is working. Ask Him to give you His unending joy!
I want to be active in my faith, not stagnant like the Israelites as they complained in their tents. God wants us to wait expectantly for the good He is about to do in our lives (Exodus 14:13-14).
As an upperclassman, I am thinking about my future a LOT more. Sometimes, I am completely terrified of the next season of life. Ask Kaitlyn if you don’t believe me. ;)
Even though I still feel fear, I CHOOSE not to live in fear of the future. Matthew 6:27 says, “Can all your worries add a single day to your life”? I know that worrying is not beneficial, so instead, I will choose to have joy in the LORD. The joy that I find in God will be my strength (Nehemiah 8:10b).
I choose to throw all my worries and complaints to Jesus because I know that He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7). Jesus does not want me to carry all these decisions (burdens) on my own. Matthew 11:28 says, “For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light”.
I am still learning how to give my worries to Jesus, so we’re all in this together. Let’s give our worries to Jesus and trust that God has good plans for the new land that each of us will enter.
Feel free to reach out to us at our email (thejoysblog@gmail.com) or DM us on Instagram (@thejoysblog). We would love to know how we can pray for you! Let us know if God taught you anything through this post and how God is working in your life. I pray that you hold on tightly to the promises of the LORD. He’s got this!