Over the years I have heard ministers say that we can not avoid or do anything to be excluded from the blessings of God. While I know the His promises are sure, I have to ask myself, "Is there a way I can cut myself off from God's promise?" I have been searching the scriptures for the answer and found that we can in fact lose out when it comes to receiving the things of God. I have witnessed the saints being promised cars, new homes and all types of financial blessing. The people of God would leave the service with the expectation that all they had to do was keep living and the blessing would one day fall on them. The day will eventually come to pass and the saint will look up and see God's blessing has been bestowed upon them.
The children of Israel were directed into the wilderness after 400 years of captivity in Egypt. The Israelites were promised the land of Canaan. They were taken to the vicinity and told to send spies to survey the land. Twelve spies were sent and a report was given. The scriptures describe the report as evil because it focused on the obstacles to overcome rather than the blessing of the land. (Num. 13:32) I often find there is little warning given to the saints of God. We are not told of the trial that brings forth blessing, only the blessing. This causes believers to become unwise in pursuit of God. If I am aware that trouble is on the horizon I will not be surprised or disappointed when I experience it. On the other hand if I am not warned I assume safe passage into the blessing and a struggle free apprehension of the promise.
The Israelites were expected to trust God despite the obstacle. The issue was, they never expected an obstacle at all. Regardless proper response is necessary when we are tried. I have failed because I felt blindsided by trouble and became frustrated because I assumed a safe passage would be granted. I have since learned that safety is in our faith not in our situation. Our situations are not designed to always meet us at the level of our trust in God. He wants more and we should be willing to offer more. Moses was given the task to bring the people out of Egypt and into promise. God knew very well the difficulty of the task Moses was given. Twice Moses was faced with angry thirsty people that were looking to obtain a great promise. They grew consistently frustrated with the journey and the trials they had to face. Moses was instructed to bring forth water from a rock two times. The first time he was instructed to strike the rock and it would yeild it's water (Exodus 17:5-6). Moses w followed the instruction and the water was released. Moses was instructed to have a rock yeild it's water a second time. This time he was to speak to the rock and it would bring forth it's water (Numbers 20:7-8). Instead of speaking to the rock as instructed Moses stuck the rock. Immediately God responded to the lack of faith in Moses and showed His displeasure by declaring that Moses would not take the people into the promised land.
Having a promise from God brings with it responsibility. I once heard a minister say that simple obedience is sufficient to completed the task. This truth would have offered Moses the opportunity to enter the promise. Instead Moses struck out and as a result forfeited the promise by a single act of disobedience. Obedience to God is better than sacrifice.(1Sam.15:22) We would do well to seek the will of God first and allow His promises to be fulfilled in our lives. We don't have to produce the promise just because God said it would be bestowed. Our responsibility is to hold on in the face of temptation and remember to not become bitter or frustrated about our tests as we are moved towards the promise.
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