Men's Retreat Teaching (Part 2)

Later that evening on the men's retreat I taught on Numbers 11. The Israelites complain that they don't have meat to eat and say they are tired of the manna. They also claim that they were better off in Egypt.

So God declares that he will give them quail, so much so that it comes out of their nostrils. He gives them more quail than they know what to do with. It ends by God sending a plague on those who had craved meat. They name the place this happened Kibroth Haatavah, which literally means Graves of craving. Their cravings led to the grave.

Often times, when we follow our desires, our cravings, our lusts (lust isn't just about sex) we find death awaits us. It may not be a literal death, but it could be the death of a relationship, the death of our integrity, the death of our identity, the death of a family.

The progression in Numbers 11 goes like this. Their Cravings lead to complaining, complaining leads to self-pity, self-pity leads to trivializing God's blessings, trivializing God's blessings leads to rejection of God's blesssings, which leads to death.

The Israelites voice their complaint about the manna, which means they trivialize this provision from God. The also claim they were better off in Egypt which is a slap in God's face since they were slaves in Egypt. When they trivialize God's blessing of Manna and God's redemption of them from slavery, they trivialize God.

So, there are two applications. First, what do you do with your cravings? Do you simply give into them? That leads to disaster. Do you repress them? That can lead to disaster as well. The right answer is to submit them to God and allow God to direct them to the right places in your life.

The second application is to ask ourselves how we have trivialized God's blessings in our lives. Namely, the relationships that matter most to us. Whether it is our spouse, our children, our friends our co-workers, how have you trivialized the blessing they are in your life. Another way to think of this is to ask this question: how do you treat the people that matter most to you? Do you speak words of truth and blessing and good, or do trivialize them and take it for granted that they are a part of your life. We should bless the blessings God has given us. The best way to avoid trivializing God's blessings is to be thankful for them and treat them for what they are...blessings.