Discontentment and Misguided Expectations

 Our church has been reading through the entire narrative of Scripture and we currently find ourselves near the end of Moses' life.  He has been leading the Israelite people for nearly 40 years.  In that 40 years, the people have experienced their God destroy the most powerful army in the known world at the time.  He parted a huge body of water in such a way that over a million and a half people crossed to the other side on dry ground, and then watch, from the safety of the other side, while the waters collapsed, destroying the mighty Egyptian army.  These people saw the glory of the Lord in the form of a pillar of smoke by day and fire by night.  They tasted manna and meat that God provided for them during their journey.  They witnessed God's confirmation of Moses' leadership over and over again.  However, none of this was enough.  I was reading in Numbers 20 and was struck with a thought I would like to unpack.

3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?  5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."

-Numbers 20:3-5

Read carefully what the people are saying.  They are discontent and unloading on Moses.  Why did he lead them out of Egypt to come to this wilderness to die?  Now to be fair, the wilderness was likely a very tough place to live.  It is a dessert and it lacks the provisions needed to sustain so many people, however, God has always met their needs.  They rightfully conclude that this is no place for grain or figs or even water to drink.  It is the wilderness.  

I think at this point it is important to point out that this is not the land God promised to them nor is it the land He was leading them toward.  They were on the edge of the good land that was flowing with milk and honey.  They were right there, but had determined that the people living in that land were too powerful for them to take possession of that which their God had told them to possess.  As a result of their lack of faith, they did not enter into the land.  So they continue to live in the wilderness.  However, there was another more significant promise that God made with His people.  "I will be your God, and you will be my people."  God even had them build a tabernacle to exact specifications so that He would dwell with them and go before them.   However, this promise was not the focal point of the people.  Their accusation against Moses was that he had led them to an evil place, but the truth is that their lack of faith in the God, who was dwelling in their midst, was keeping them from experiencing the fruit of the promised land.  It seems as if the people were expecting the blessings of the promised land while still in the wilderness, while forgetting the greater promise that God was with them.  I can almost hear them saying, "This is not what we were promised!"  And of course the land promise was still ahead and required faith to enter it.  But that is the very thing the people lacked.  Their eyes were fixated on the here and now and were forgetting who was with them.  They wanted to experience the blessings of God's promise without trusting Him to provide it, or resting in His presence.  The discontentment of God's people was a direct result of misguided expectations and a lack of faith in the sufficiency of God.

The same is true today.  The discontentment of those who say they follow Jesus is a direct result of their misguided expectations and lack of faith in the sufficiency of Christ.  Consider these two examples...

• You expect the joy of God's presence without pursuing a consistent time to be present with Him.  We tend to slack on out pursuit of God's presence and need to make this a priority.  I would highly recommend a book called "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence.  
• Question:  When is the last time you sat quietly with your Bible and asked God to reveal Himself to you so that you could genuinely get to know Him? 

• You expect happiness and health on this side of eternity while believing that God would never allow you to experience suffering, even though God clearly tells believers they will experience suffering.  In fact, it is in suffering that God prepares for us a weight of glory.  God never promised us that we would not suffer, but He did promise us that He would be with us through the suffering.
• Question:  How would you respond to God if it became clear that He was not going to  deliver you from terminal cancer?

Misguided expectations and MIA faith will breed discontentment in your life.  Contentment comes when we  have truthful expectations in this earthly life and we accept that Christ is enough for us.  We can trust in the promise of His presence, power, and provision in our lives regardless of our circumstances.  This is how the Apostle Paul was able to learn to be content in every situation.  Circumstances did not dictate his contentment, rather it was his belief that Christ was enough for him.  May Christ be enough for us.

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

-Philippians 4:11-13