"2 Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” 6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they [a]fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Numbers 20:2-12
Depressive thoughts are something I have struggled with since a young age. Although Jesus saves, there are still patterns in my mind that He shows me how to manage and heal over time. These days, perhaps being pregnant in particular, I find myself in a roller coaster of emotions - from joyful and hopeful to discouraged and desperate. However, this morning, God shared some precious light with me while meditating on his word which I would like to share with you all.
I think my biggest problem with my thinking patterns is that I always forget the valuable lessons I have already learned. Lessons that helped me move forward and heal. I think this tends to happen as human beings and that is why we have the written word of God to remind us daily of his promises and lessons for us. One of the lessons I tend to forget when I feel a bit depressed is that of discouragement and unbelief.
Discouragement often fills the heart and Satan likes it so. However, we must constantly look to Jesus, not ourselves, for healing. But what does that mean?
If you read the text above, you will find that the Israelites despair again because of the lack of food and water. They complained because they felt discouraged. And they felt discouraged because they lacked faith (did not believe) that God could/would help. In their walk, they went through many trials with God. They have learned so many times that God would provide for them if they just trusted Him. However, they did not always have faith and it was just one of those other times! What about us Christians? We have such a tendency not to believe too !! At least, I know that it is the case for me ..
The Israelites wept to return to Egypt, just as we weep to return to the world when the walk becomes difficult in our walk with Christ. Just like the Israelites, we have had so much evidence in our experience with God that He is faithful to respond to our petitions and can change us through the power of Jesus - yet we tend to get discouraged and sad when we feel the weight of our weaknesses and our sins. We look at ourselves and think how terrible, unworthy, cowardly, really sinful we are! Like Paul, we think we are "the chief of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). But we forget what Paul said before this statement:
"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, thatChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15).
Yes! Jesus came into the world to save sinners like you and me! Alleluia! Many of us tend to think that we need to be in a good position with God before asking for His blessings. Some of us feel that we have to be spiritually "strong" to go to God with our request. But on the contrary, it is when we really see and feel our condition that we must ask for the blessings that He offers us. Just as the Israelites were thirsty and hungry for physical things, also we are thirsty and hungry for something better that only Jesus can offer. We turn to ourselves to try to fill this thirst and hunger perhaps through the media, food or other indulgences and we are not satisfied. But the Bible has a simple guideline for this kind of problem:
"7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8 Foreveryone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?11 If you then,being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:7-11)
We have to start asking for more! You see, the gospel is quite simple. But often we tend to make the task much more difficult than it should be. God is waiting for us to ask for his help. It includes everything. Even if you do not feel spiritual, you do not want to pray or read the Bible, you are not ready to do his will, etc. - whatever it is, ask God to help you! To help you change, to give you a change of heart:
"26 I will give you anew heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
It is not us who change our motivations and our desires. We are not the ones who are able to fully obey God. God grants this gift to us through the Holy Spirit if we ask, if we give him permission to work in our hearts. If we turn to ourselves, we will surely fail, we do not have this ability, but success is sure if we turn to Jesus for help. Not only must we ask, but above all we must believe that God will answer us. God begs us that we stop looking at our weak disposition and start to turn to his Son - the only source of help. He was sent to die specifically to redeem us from our condition so why do we continue to trample on his sacrifice by disregarding the simple promise given to us:
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24). **[Now, this is a topic for another post, but that doesn't mean you will get everything you ask for that may be bad]
"Jesus said to him,“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23).
“So they said,“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”” (Acts 16:31)
By believing, Jesus can start working in us. So I think we have to start believing - start having true faith, the simple faith of everyday life. We tend to think of faith in God as having to believe in the great things that happen in our lives. But truth be told, we need to have simpler faith in God. Faith in small things so that we can grow in righteousness.
I really praise and thank God for his kindness. His patience. His mercy. His compassion. His most tender love. Truly, there is no other like Him. The true healing of the soul comes only from Jesus who brings peace like none other has ever known and my prayer is that everyone can live this experience in Jesus Christ.
I hope this has been useful to you and pray that God will bless you all on your journey with Him, no matter where you come from, remember, Jesus loves you.
Prayer to pray: Dear God, thank you very much for your patience with me. Forgive me for forgetting the simple gospel that you offer me: to believe in Jesus. Help me to ask and believe in the saving power of Jesus in my life. He has worked miracles in my heart so far and can do even more if I ask. Help me in what I am struggling with and thank you for everything. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Much love and smiles,
Nahisha :)
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