The Lord Said: "Let's Start Over Here..."

 Numbers 14:11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

The Lord had been speaking all sorts of instructions to the people through Moses, preparing them to enter the promised land. He had offered them a covenant promising protection, provision and His presence. He led them through the construction of the Tabernacle, how to use it, and gave guidelines for those who served there. As we saw yesterday, He said "Now is the time; take a look." And the people said "no, we won't go."  On the one hand, we can understand God's frustration. But we also wonder about the wisdom of abandoning everything God had already invested in this plan: from the Exodus to the present. In faith, Mose and Aaron, and Joshua and Caleb, vastly outnumbered and on the wrong side of the crowd, call out to both God and His people to make this work. Rather than starting over from scratch, they stared over from where they were at.  It wasn't going to be easy; it was going to take another 40 years. Like these people, we often go so far and say stop. God does not take abandon us. He starts where we are, to begin again, and learn to trust Him more.  May we do that today.