Futility and Fear

Read Psalm 78:21-33

The history of Israel in the Old Testament is really the history of all Christians. Like Israel, we have been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. And like the people of Israel, we are heading for the Promised Land.

What is the one thing you need most on the journey from earth to heaven? Love? Yes, that's important. Hope? That's important, too. But I think faith is needed most. The one thing you must do is trust God. That's what the psalmist talks about in this passage. The people would not believe in God and continued to sin. We see the consequence in verse 33: "Therefore their days He consumed in futility, and their years in fear." When the Israelites got to the edge of the Promised Land, they refused to go in. They were at Kadesh-Barnea and would not trust God to lead them. So they had to wander around for some 40 years in vanity and emptiness, struggling with problem after problem.

Unfortunately, many of God's people are betweeners--they are living between Egypt and Canaan. They have been delivered from bondage by the blood of the Lamb, but they have never entered into their inheritance. They are living between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. They believe that Jesus died on the cross, but they are not living in the power of His Resurrection.

Don't be a betweener today. Consider how God blessed the people of Israel. He sent them manna and fowl to feed them. He provided them with water. But also consider how God disciplined them because of their unbelief. In His patience, however, He finally brought them through. We are like the people of Israel. Our greatest need is to believe God. We don't live by explanations; we live by promises. Today, while you hear His voice, don't harden your heart.

* * *

Unbelief leads to futility and fear. Perhaps you are a "betweener" today--refusing to trust God's leading. When Israel believed the promises of God, He blessed them. Trust Him, obey Him and believe Him, and His blessing will come!

Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group (bakerpublishinggroup.com). Used by permission. All rights to this material are reserved. Material is not to be reproduced, scanned, copied, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from Baker Publishing Group.