Why your faith is slipping - The Silent Killer of Faith - Torah Portion: Beha'alotcha

Today we're going to talk about this one sin that led to the death of thousands of people as Israel was making their way through the biblical exodus, a sin that is now one of the most pervasive in all of the west, right underneath our noses. And almost all of us have knowingly or unknowingly taken part in it. And it so happens to be complaining. It seems as though the more we have, the more we have to complain about. But you may ask Petey, what's so bad about complaining? Why did so many in Israel die simply for complaining? See, complaining has a root of ungratefulness. And when we have ungratefulness, it blinds us from our present blessings. It prevented Israel from having faith in God because they were so focused on what they didn't have, they were blinded from what they did have, and ultimately, Israel. She started yearning back for how things used to be, nostalgically getting in a bondage that cut her off from God's blessings. Ungratefulness comes with a sweet voice, luring us to the other side of the fence, where the grass shines greener. But is it greener? I want to start off by telling you a little story that a farmer told me not too long ago. He came to me so distraught, saying, Petey, I don't know what to do. I'm like, what's going on? And he says, my cows, they've broken out of their fencing. I'm like, wow, why does that happen? And he said, see, peter, you don't understand. When the grass gets sparse, they push up against the fence as they look at the grass on the other side, and then they break the fence open in hope to get to those greener grass fields. And in the midst of it, all, the cows get hurt. Some of them may even get lost on the other side. And so it is exactly with people. See, when the grass gets sparse in our own camp, we look to greener pastures on the other side of the fence in the world, and we break the fence to get to it. See, we don't recognize that the fence is there to protect us from the dangerous territory outside, where there's a lot of pits and snakes and things out to get us, or from simply getting lost out there. The fence is the spirit of God, who guides us into all that is righteous and keeps us safe. The fence is the law of God, our instructions for righteous living, that if we obey his commandments, there is blessing and there is safety in his camp. But see, Yeshua, right now, as I speak in this time, he is walking in the midst of the fields, and he is finding the cow that is lost, that is hurt. He is binding its wounds, leading its back to God's camp. And Yeshua comes to fix the fence. That is what he is doing now in your midst and in this teaching. So let's begin with trusting that your master will always have enough food and provision for you, no matter what things look like. Even though it looks sparse, it seems that there's not enough to go around. Trust that he knows what he is doing. In the midst of your trial, see a cow. It thinks only about what it sees. Well, the master considers the season and has a greater perspective. And lastly, stay in God's camp. That is the safety net that he has created for you. But Israel, they did not. In fact, when they were in their wilderness journey, their hearts got tempted away and they lusted after something that they thought they used to have. It says in numbers eleven four. Now, the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, oh, that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing. The cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic. But now, now our strength is dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at. Do you feel like I'm a believer? I'm following God. I'm in this wilderness, but my strength is dried up. Have you ever thought, wow, the things before I followed God, things used to be kind of nice. I remember all these nice things of the world I had access to that I could partake in. See, here's the crazy part about what Israel is saying here. You know, they say, well, we remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing. But that's not true at all. Yes, they may remember the fish they had, but they certainly don't remember the cost because it wasn't free. The cost was great. Israel was enslaved in Egypt. They had bitter slavery. They had no freedom of movement. They had nothing but to work for their slave masters and be abused. And so, in the same way, there are things in this world that seems so appetizing. The world tells us there's no cost. Just come back to this. It's free. Enjoy it all. But in reality, in truth, it comes at a great cost. And the greatest cost to Israel wasn't even that they were enslaved. It was that they were unable to worship God freely. They were unable to keep a feast unto the Lord. Because, remember, when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh, they asked, can we go out and have a feast to the Lord and pharaoh. He rejected their ask and he said, no, no, no, as the plagues came raining down on all of Egypt. See, the reality is that Israel didn't recognize that worshiping God even in a deserted wilderness is better than even paradise without him. When you are in your wilderness and thinking back on how things used to be, remember that is better to have him in the midst of your wilderness than to be in a worldly paradise, quote unquote, full of empty promises without him. The second thing that Israel says that is so crazy to me is that our strength is dried up. Has Israel forgotten that when they were in Egypt working for their slave master pharaoh, that it was to Pharaoh that all of their strength went, that in reality they had no strength in Egypt? And now they're saying, no, no, no, we're in this wilderness and this is where we don't have strength. Even though God said the soles of your feet won't wear out, that there is literal food falling from heaven called manna, that there is water flowing from rocks, that everything is being provided to them supernaturally by God. And now they don't have strength. See, the reality is this. Their lack of strength in the wilderness was because of a complaining heart. Strength, true strength, comes from above. It doesn't come from this world, it comes supernaturally from our Father who is in heaven. But the moment that we fall into a complaining heart, complaining about oh this and oh that, whatever God has done for us is never good enough. Whatever we have today in the present is never good enough. We always need something more in our future. We're always looking back to something we used to have. Nostalgically we are not operating in faith and that God has his best for us right now and that he knows what's best for us right now as our shepherd, now we're questioning him and our unbelief in him means that we now trust in ourselves, that we will get our strength from what things in this world. Israel thought, well, if we can just have some meat, then we're going to have strength again. If we're just going to have the melons and the lakes of Egypt, then we're going to have strength again. See, when we take our eyes of him, we start looking for things in this world to satisfy and strengthen us. And oh, how we will be continuously dissatisfied, walking in circles in a wilderness, going nowhere quickly. See, the reality is, brothers and sisters, that Israel receives her strength from doing what God brought her into the wilderness to do in the first place, to be in his presence and to worship him. Now, I want you to notice how Israel is pointing to all of the things out there, the things they don't have, and the things that they need to have in order to be strengthened and happy. But the real problem wasn't external. It was internally inside of their hearts. How do I know this? Well, it's clear, because when you look closely at how Israel is not even thinking clearly, how Israel is looking with rose colored glasses at their slavery in Egypt as to how it actually was, and then what they start doing is they're making these arguments that are ridiculous and nonsensical, because they're arguing with their mind and trying to excuse what they need with their mind, with their logic, when the actual problem is what's happening in their heart. And that's something that happens in people. Often when people start arguing nonsensical things, it may be indicating a heart issue. When people start defying logic in their thinking and in their arguments as to what they need and what will fix their problems, it is often because they have a heart issue that's being concealed. And it is only when that heart issue is surrendered, when they are willing to face the fact that they have unbelief in God, need to put faith in him, need to trust in him, and need to stop relying on themselves, and need to stop complaining about what they don't have, and rejoice and worship God for what they do have. See, if that hard issue was solved, then suddenly they wouldn't need to try and rationalize with their mind how slavery in Egypt was somehow better than freedom with God is right now. And so you can't win an argument with someone with a heart issue like that. They need a changed heart. They need the Holy Spirit to come and make them new. That's why no matter what Moses tried to do and say to them, and even when the punishments of God, the consequences of their own actions came upon them, it's like they just repeated this cycle over and over and over again, justifying the wickedness of their own hearts. And so us as well, all of us, we need to ask God, Lord, redeem our hearts, change our hearts. Give us new desires in line with your desires, not with the world anymore, so that we can rejoice to see you for who you are, instead of complaining about what God hasn't given us, that we feel like we deserve somehow. But what was Israel really, I mean, complaining about? Let's just like be real here for a moment. We see in numbers eleven seven. Now, the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bedellium. And it says, the people went about and gathered it and ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar and baked it in pans and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families. Every man in the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly. Moses was also very displeased. All right, so what's going on? Israel's people are weeping because all they have is this manna to look at, as they say, which literally falls from heaven and is like cakes of fresh oil. That doesn't sound too bad to me. See, but what God was giving them was enough. They literally had to do just about nothing to receive it except to pick it up and to make cakes from it. But, see, when we become ungrateful, which is the root of our complaining, then we get so blinded from even the blessings in front of us, it is kind of like, I don't know if you've ever noticed when you're, like, cold and you put your foot in a hot tub that you're about to get into, it feels so hot and so warm because your body isn't used to that temperature. And as you get in the tub, it's like, wow, it's really, really, really hot. Almost burns you. But then just a few minutes later, you recognize, actually, this isn't that hot. The water is actually kind of cold. And then you pour in some more hot water to get the temperature up even more and more and more as your body acclimates to the temperature. It's like, from the moment it was burning, the next moment, it's too cold. And we need more. And that's how we are. It's like, after we receive a blessing from God, it's like hot water. It's. Wow. It's so comforting. It's great. It's just right, we think. But then when we are marinating in God's blessings just long enough, we get used to it, and we want more. We open that tap of God and we say, God, we want more, more, more, more. Because we feel like it's getting a little too lukewarm in here right now. And, see, that is the trap of this world, where we start loving our blessings that God has truly given us, but loving our blessings more than God himself. And it ends in an unsatisfaction and a pursuit of more. More. And if you now think about Israel with all of this Israel, they were the wealthiest wilderness dwellers of them all. I mean, if you're out camping in the middle of nowhere and you have food falling from the sky, you have a cloud guiding you by day and a fire by night, you don't even have to worry about where you're going. You just follow that and you know that you're on the way to a promised land of milk and honey. Doesn't get any better than that. But yet the danger of nostalgia crept into the hearts of Israel. And isn't that what we so easily fall into as well? We've all heard the sayings of, well, the kids these days, or, well, in my day it used to be like this and used to be like that. Or maybe even if we lived back then in the eighties, then, you know, there would be safety and there would be, and all the things would be so much better. And no doubt the world is getting darker as the timeline continues. But don't make a mistake. The nostalgia of our memories can be dangerous, because we easily remember that which was pleasant and forget that which was not. The sixties and seventies and forties and twenties. Each of those decades had massive issues, whether it was world wars, depressions of poverty, movements that were extremely dangerous to children. Just making some simple examples here. But I don't think we fully recognize the danger of how we can lose our calling to our complaining, how when we start thinking this way, it leads to compromise in what God has entrusted to us, just like Israel started compromising their walk. For example, if we become ungrateful for the family God has given us, then we see men start committing adultery with other women, and then it causes the loss of everything for such a man. Or we become ungrateful for our calling itself. So we grow jealous and we gossip about the callings of others as to what they're doing wrong. And we hope to grow our calling somehow and our influence somehow, as a slanderer, by climbing on top of others. And then we buy that all before God, disqualify ourselves from the calling that God has given us, because we are not keeping our eye on him, we're keeping our eyes on everyone else and using everyone else to somehow pave the way for ourselves, instead of letting God be the one who exalts us. Or maybe we're ungrateful for even our children. So in our inward complaining, we struggle to love them. And then, yeah, that will cause them to notice and drift away in your relationship with them. Or maybe you're ungrateful for your job, so you constantly complain to your coworkers about how things should or can be better. See, this attitude leads us to underperform in our job, causing a negative atmosphere, and then we're not even receiving the promotion that we so eagerly desired in the first place. Or maybe we're ungrateful for even the most basic things, like our food and our shelter, the fact that we have a roof over our heads. So then we start focusing so much on what we want more than thanking God for providing our needs today. One Timothy six eight says, but if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. See all that Israel went through in the wilderness with all of her complaining and lusts of things of this world? It's nothing new. And it's more alive in the west than ever before. The more we feel blessed, the more we feel like we want to complain about what we still don't have. And yet, I want you to pay attention as we conclude here, to how God responds to Israel's complaining. Numbers 1118 and say to the people, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow and you shall eat meat. For you have wept in the hearing of the Lord saying, who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt. You said, therefore, the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one or two or five or ten or 20 days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. Because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, why did we come out of Egypt in our complaining? We reject the Lord. We reject the way that he has paid for us, the blessings that he has given us, the needs he's provided for us. And we are saying, your presence, O Lord, is no longer enough. Your manna is no longer enough. Who is the manna? Yeshua is the bread from heaven. You are no longer enough. God gave them exactly what they were asking for. So be careful for what you ask the Lord, because he may just give you exactly what you're asking for. Sometimes the greatest blessing is when God doesn't give us what we're asking for. Sometimes the greatest blessing is that when he. It feels like he's not listening, but he knows exactly what we're saying. But he knows that we don't know what we are saying, that we don't understand, that what we want will be our own demise and our own destruction. Because ultimately, what happened is Israel. They got their meat. They jumped into it with their faces. 1st 8888. And it says, as the meat was still between their teeth, a plague broke out among the camp. And many, many, many people perished. Numbers 1134. Therefore, the name of that place was called Kibroth Hatavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving. And so I would like to give you a word of encouragement. Challenge yourself, challenge your family, to not speak a word of complaining. Understand that our father is in control, even when it feels like he isn't. Understand that even when things don't make any sense, it makes complete sense to him. And it will one day make sense to us as well. Understand that his ways are not our ways, and yet his ways are higher. He is perfect. He is loving. His will is good. He will never forsake us. He always does what is right in order to love us best. He is always carrying us on eagles wings. He is always the one who is keeping the serpent from us. He is always the one who opens up the skies, looking down upon us. All of our needs, all of our desires, all, everything we're facing, every trial. He is the one who is never far away. He is the one who is always with you. Let the holy spirit be who he is, the comforter to you, and let yourself not become the complainer to him. Father, I thank you, Lord, for your goodness, that your blessings are enough. Help us to be content in all of the blessings that you have given us as your people. In fact, Father, help us to give away. Help us to be generous. Help us to be a light to this world, so that those, Lord, who have needs, that we meet those needs. By your power of the spirit, Father, I pray, lord, that we would not be like Israel, Father, who's always looking for something that we don't have yet. But, Father, I pray, lord, that you would put such a satisfaction in your presence, in the satisfaction that we can only find through our worship of you. We pray all this in the name of Yeshua. Amen. So go and make it a priority to do what Israel didn't do enough. Worship. The Lord put on a song of praise and praise him, dance before him, sing to him, do whatever you can do. Because that is how we destroy the root of ungratefulness from our hearts. Thank you so much for joining me. We love you. And I bless you in the name of Yeshua the Messiah Shalom.