cravings

I wrote last night about how if you don't "show up" you can't get results. I wrote that in regard to my time in the word as I struggled my way through the book of Leviticus and the beginning portions of Numbers. Today, I showed up and there it was. A clear, challenging lesson. Just the kind of lesson I need in the season of life I am in.

Here it is.

This morning the story I read was in Numbers 11.

The first words I read were these:

"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, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."

Oh boy, here they go again these Israelites. This is yet another situation where I want to get so irritated with this band of whiners.

I want to, but I can't.

Just like in the stories before and just like with the Pharisees I cannot judge too harshly because I am just like them.

Take a moment to really see what they are saying here.

"Remember back in Egypt, when we were slaves? That was pretty great. Like wayyyyyy better than following the Lord in the wilderness. I mean, does He seriously think we can get by on just manna everyday?" 

Oh Israelites...you're a mess.

Oh Linda...you're a mess too.

I do the same thing that the Israelites do. There are many times in my life where I become the "rabble" and totally lose sight of everything but my cravings. This is particularly evident in my struggles with food but it can apply to any struggle you might have.

Another area of my life that is much more subtle is my general lack of discipline and inclination toward slothfulness. Sometimes at the end of a long day there is absolutely nothing in me that wants to be productive for even one second longer. I don't want to run, meal prep, fold laundry, write a blog or anything else that may still be on the docket for that day. All I WANT to do is lay in my bed and binge watch an entire season of "Friends" on Netflix.

I admit, there is a time and place for rest, for treats and for relaxation but more often then not my flesh wants them SOOOOOO badly because my spirit is trying to guide me to something else.

That's something I have learned the hard way about the spirit and the flesh. Generally our cravings are very skewed the direction of the flesh and we recoil from the very things the Lord is leading us to to make us stronger.

In the wilderness as He fed the Israelites as manna He was teaching them a valuable lesson about dependence on Him. All they could think about was how great they had it when they were slaves.

How many times have I sat around and wished that I could just "eat whatever I want and be thin." Somehow, I believe that would defeat the purpose of discipline the Lord is trying to instill in me.

Have you ever done the very same thing? You have walked away from something that you know is not good for you and yet there is a part of you that still longs for the not good thing. Be careful what you wish for.

The Israelites got what they "wanted"

"Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at 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?”"

I too have given into my cravings and have lived to regret them. It should be a red flag to us, when we have been brought out of slavery and tasted the joy of freedom, that we could ever actually crave the slavery again.

I don't want to be a slave to the cravings of something the Lord has freed me from. I want to walk in the power of His freedom...

What are you craving today?