From Wailing Tents to Trusting Hearts

By Dean Collins

With all respect to teenagers, here is the picture I get in my mind when I read about the Israelites wailing at the entrance of their tents. In my younger years I was the program director for 10 years at a summer high school camp in Alabama and also for a high school week of camp in Georgia. Each  week I would have between 100-200 high school students in attendance. 

My main job was to meet these young people where they were socially and spiritually and create a camp experience where they would fall in love with Jesus and have a whole lot of fun. And I saw God do a lot of amazing things in the lives of these teens. But sometimes when the weather didn’t cooperate or they were just having a bad day the “wailing” about the schedule, or the food, or the activities would begin. Oh they were safe, well fed, well taken care of, but camp was camp and not the Ritz! And I might have a moment of my own where I complained to God about why did you put me in this job dealing with the teenagers who don’t appreciate my sacrifice! Or worse the counselors and pastors who would have their own wailing session about some aspect of their responsibilities. Seems like “wailing and complaining” have been around at least since the days of Moses!

The Israelites who had been delivered from an oppressive leader and were being given daily provision began to complain. Manna wasn’t enough. They wanted their daily bread to come with some side dishes and especially with meat.  Moses was getting plenty tired of being in charge of thousands of whining and unappreciative Israelites. So Moses sang his own verse of the complaining song to God. Why did you put all of this burden on my back? I am not the father of these complainers! I’m not their nurse! And where do you expect me to find meat for say a million jews wandering around in the desert? I didn’t sign up for this so if you are going to treat me like this then just shoot me here, that might bring some relief!

I am plenty capable of complaining to my wife, my coworkers, the trustees and elders whom I work for, and even to God but I pull back from “just kill me Lord and end the suffering”! Although I do find myself longing for heaven more and more frequently! I will commend Moses for his honest conversations with God. And apparently God can handle the honest emotions we have and express to him. And while the scripture does indicate that God was a little annoyed with the Israelites complaining he was rather attentive to Moses and his need for help. In fact God directed Moses to gather 70 of Israel’s elders to appear with him at the tent of meeting. And there God took some of His spirit from Moses and spread it around the 70 so that Moses could see that he didn’t have to carry this burden alone.

But even this act of support for Moses, it didn’t solve the mental anguish  in Moses’s mind. He still felt the pressure to provide meat for the million or more. Even with 70 to help, Moses had a legitimate complaint. Moses was still complaining freely to God. You know God last time I checked we are in the middle of the desert and there is not a “Quail –Fil –A” anywhere near by! There is not even a Quail processing plant so where exactly am I supposed to come up with the meat to keep this wilderness experiment alive? Meat doesn’t grow on trees here in the desert…

I don’t know if the Lord raised his voice or not but he was pretty clear in his question back to Moses: “is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you”. If you choose to go head to head with God then I’m placing the bet on God. 

And that really is the issue we have isn’t it? Can we trust God for provision? Moses was honest and he was also right. Moses was in fact not capable of providing meat or bread for the nation he was called to lead. If this deliverance mission was going to make it to the promised land then God and God alone would have to provide. There was no indication that Moses was supposed to go lie down and quit although I am sure some days he wanted to do just that. He had to get up every day and tell the story, cast the vision, give the marching orders,etc. But if there was to be food on the table then he would have to trust God to do his part.

I think the hardest thing for me and likely for any leader of a christian cause is to trust God to provide the resources needed to carry out the mission. To be honest I have felt the heavy burden of providing for employees, students, and staff during my 20 years of college presidency. I wondered how in the world will I find the resources to do the mission of Point University? I can’t force students to enroll. I can’t force friends and donors to give and I wouldn’t if I could. And every time I felt that burden I finally got to the moment where I realized that my issue was not resources, it was faith. Do I have the faith to accept that God will do what he has promised to do. He does own the hills and the cattle. The scripture and my whole life of experience says that He will never abandon nor forget me (or you). 

I don’t know what you are facing today but I will give you the same answer that God gave Moses when he was doubting and complaining about his reality: “is the Lord’s arm too short?” 

I guess we will have to trust that God’s response to Moses might be the same for you and me…”Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”

Father, increase our faith to trust you fully in every area of our lives.  You alone are our Rock, our redeemer, and our deliverer. Today we choose to rest in you.  In Jesus name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Numbers 11:10-18, 21-23 NIV

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