Flashback Friday Devotion #21 [Powerless]

Hi, Everyone.
Today's devotion is from my personal journal dated April 29, 2007. Let me know your thoughts.

Flashback Friday Devotion #21 [Powerless]

     I kept thinking of the children of Israel again today, so I knew the Lord had something to teach me about or through them. I thought of what I remembered about them, as I read through the Old Testament Pentatuch (the first five books of the Bible) and beyond. The word I came up with was "brats," as in "spoiled brats." [I say that lovingly, like an aunt who sees her niece and nephew as they really are but loves them anyway.]
     The children of Israel complained about everything! It made me shake my head and ask God, "So...why exactly did You choose them?" I had to admit, though, that I'm glad God didn't choose me based on my merit.
     I remembered the story of when the children of Israel complained so much that God sent serpents among them, and many were bitten and died. Sometimes it takes a major disruption in our life to get us to turn to Him, and if we don't pay attention to God's whisper, we'll pay attention to His shout, hopefully.
     I found the story of the serpents in Numbers 21:4-9. In reading that, the part that stood out was the verse that says, "The LORD said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten when he looks at it, he will live.'" 
     A serpent...reminds me of Satan and sin, the Garden of Eden. Dead...on a pole...reminds me of the crucified Jesus on a cross-like pole. "When he looks at it, he will live." If we look at the Savior, we will live.
     The cure for sin is Jesus Christ. Can I really be free of this lifetime of struggle simply by looking at Jesus? Perhaps, if I look with my heart and not just my eyes. It's a matter of believing.
     1) I must believe that I am incurable apart from Jesus. I cannot fix myself.
     2) If I look to Jesus to heal me, it means I believe He can heal me, that He is able to do for me
         what I cannot do for myself.
     3) When I look to the cross of Jesus to heal me, it means that I believe He has removed my 
         guilt by becoming a sin offering for me. The cross not only forgives the guilt of sin, it also
         breaks the power of it.
     4) If I look to Jesus to heal me, it means that I know I WILL be healed. When I look to Jesus,
         I can receive His powerful grace and begin to live in victory. Over time I will see that I am not
         filled with the venom of sin, for I will be living a life in a self-controlled and disciplined 
         manner.
     Before the Lord in prayer, I felt an overwhelming sense of "powerlessness." The word "powerless" can have either a negative or positive connotation.
     Sometimes I feel powerless to change. I think I don't have the power to make the change(s) I need to make. Maybe I think I don't have the resources or just don't have the inner "want to" to do the hard thing. Whatever the specifics, the situation looks bleak and negative. The attached feeling is hopelessness, and the result is maintaining the status quo.
     However, when I get beyond the feeling of powerlessness to the reality that I am powerless, it can be a liberating moment. I can decide to turn to my Omnipotent (All-Powerful) Heavenly Father, who is Able, with whom nothing is impossible. When I turn to Him, He makes available to me the power to withstand temptation and stand firm against the enemy. If God doesn't fight for me, I know He will fight with me. Either way, the victory is sure, if I allow it.
     The word "powerless" made such an impression on me that I went to the Concordance to see what verses, if any, I could find with that word.
     I found the word "powerless" in II Chronicles 20:12b, "For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You."
     I know it may seem strange, but in putting away groceries today, I felt overwhelmed by all the food. Chris had bought some "junk food," like chips, and I felt panicky about it. When I read the verse in II Chronicles 20, it resonated with me. I identified with the powerlessness that they felt and admitted to, when they said, "We are powerless." They admitted their ignorance, when they said, "Nor do we know what to do." On my own, I don't have the power to fight or the knowledge to win over food addiction. They focused on God, looking to Him for help, when they said, "Our eyes are on You." I must focus on Him, too.
     By the way, the "vast army" was defeated. I love a happy ending!

Today, consider any "vast army" in your life, even in the area of food or weight. Make a conscious effort to bring that to the Lord, focus on Him, and allow Him to either fight for you or fight with you. Thank Him that victory is sure, as you keep your eyes on Him.

Blessings,
Mary

Good Morning, Mary.

I too like the story of the fiery serpents and the message of look to God and live.
As I reflected one time on how simple the cure was, and wondered how many did look (the story doesn't tell us that) I was thinking about the census that had been taken of the children of Israel and how large the crowd was.

In the first chapter of Numbers, if you tally the tribes, there were more than 600,000 men over the age of 20.  So this group must have been well over a million people.  This is a very large city (as I'm sure being from Kansas you will recognize). 

At first read I was thinking that all anyone needed to do was crane his or her neck and glance at the serpent on the pole. But when I realized how large the camp was, it occurred to me that this task would have required a bit more effort. The people would have to get out of their sickbeds and go to where they could see the pole. This would have been a pretty significant walk for someone who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent. It probably would have required the assistance of family or friends. In other words, this would definitely have been a journey of faith. A simple solution, but not necessarily an easy one.

As I pondered this thought I realized how much more applicable this makes the story to our own lives. Turning to God is more than just glancing around and calling His name halfheartedly. It takes commitment and faith. He is oh-so-willing to help us, but we do have to make a little effort to get that help. I know that as I look to God, He has richly blessed my life. He has held my hand for every step of this weight loss journey when I have let Him. Some days, I admit, I have turned and looked the other way because I didn’t want to make the effort. Thankfully, He has always still been there for me when I have turned back to Him.

Have a lovely day,

Vickie

Hi, Vickie.
I have chill bumps all over me! You are so right, and I've never thought about the effort of those who had been bitten, to move through their pain, to get to the healing pole! We want it to be easy, of course, but we seldom learn much, if anything, through ease. Yet, when we've been "bitten" (through our own poor choices and decisions), and experiencing all the consequences of that, we learn so much more and are much more grateful for the healing and restoration that God provides, when we LOOK UP.
Thank you for enriching today's devotion and passage for me! Have a precious day in the Lord.
Blessings,
Mary