Fear and Despair – The Genesis of Rebellion

Numbers 14:4, ‘And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”’ What happens when something you believed God for does not happen according to your timeline or in the manner that you had expected? Most of us despair, reject God’s leadership over our lives and then we go back to that old familiar crutch that we are so used to, that addiction that we use to distract our minds from our misfortune, or lift us up, or validate us. That is what the Israelites did when they were at the brink of entering the Promised Land but received a bad report from ten of the twelve spies sent out to inspect the land. They despaired and thought of going back to the land where they had been mistreated and living as slaves. They rejected God’s leadership and wanted to select their own leader to do according to their will. They had forgotten all the miracles that God had performed in display of His Might and Power to them. Isn’t that how most of us react when we are in despair. We stop listening to that small still voice that has been guiding us through the valley and storms. We stop submitting to Him and His will and plans for us, doubting that He will work all things for our good and decide to take our fate in our hands and accomplish our will and our plans. But the word of God tells us that a man orders his steps but the will of God prevails, so do not allow fear to take over you so that you despair and rebel against God.