Lent
March 9, 2015
Scripture Reading: Numbers 21:4-9
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.’ — Numbers 21:4-5
It seems to be human nature to never be satisfied. We are always questing for something better, more, or in the case of weight, less. I don’t think the need to never be satisfied is either good or bad. What makes the difference is what we do with it. I am thankful that Alexander Fleming invented penicillin. I am also pretty sure that he was driven by lack of satisfaction with the status quo of people dying every day with what we now view as minor infections. One of my grandfathers died with just such an illness. I am also thankful for the scientist who are trying to find responses to the resistant bacteria that exists today but do not respond to the antibiotics.
The difference in these scientists and the people of Israel who were upset about the food they had was that the scientist did something about their dissatisfaction rather than just complaining. I suppose there has to be a bit of complaining before we finally get our acts together and address issues at hands. But like the Israelites for whom God had provided food, we get bogged down in our immediate situation and fail to see what it is we are really all about. It took the Israelites 40 years, a long time, of wandering in the wilderness before they finally could move on to a brighter future and the it took a lot of hard work.
We live in a world where much is going right, but there remains a lot of injustice. We can never be satisfied as long as one of God’s children is oppressed, hungry without food, in prison where no restorative programs exits, in a land of plenty when the stranger is not welcomed. We are all called, in ways small and great, to seek and find and do God’s justice for all, not wander in the wilderness of our own self-pity.
Prayer: Lord, help us keep our eyes on the outcomes for which you have called us and not get bogged down in the things that seem to hinder us from doing your will. Amen.