February 11 - Numbers 1-2: Presumptuous and Unbelieving

I spent the morning talking with my teenager about some presumptions she was making about herself, us (her parents), and her friends.  Presumption: "an assumption, often not fully established, that is taken for granted in some piece of reasoning". (Thank you, dictionary.com)  Not at all uncommon for adolescents to struggle in this area.  I know I certainly did (and still do?!?).  In high school, I would presume that if someone wasn't talking to me that they were mad at me or didn't like me instead of thinking the more probable thing - that they were also caught up in their own insecurities.  As a teen, I also presumed that unless I was perfect, my parents would be disappointed; that I had to perform to be accepted; that I already knew everything really necessary to live my life.  Hmmmm, a lot of incomplete and erroneous reasoning.  Not unlike the Israelites, now in their "adolescence" growth stage with God.

"My people presumed that careful planning, good organization, and the symbol of My Presence (remember the ark of the covenant?) would guarantee good things.  They never looked deep enough inside to see what was terribly wrong in their own hearts.  Presumption that everything that looks okay on the surface is okay blinds you to your real problem." (66LL, 16)

Numbers chapters 1 and 2 seem fairly benign - a good, successful start.  Everything looks okay on the surface.  Everyone accounted for in just the way God commanded (1:54).  Everyone camping where they should be (2:34).  Anyone who's taking a girl scout, cub scout or youth camping trip with just a few dozen kids knows that accomplishing just these two things should make you feel pretty good.

It's actually hard reading these first chapters when we know the end of the story. Things look good right here at the beginning and there's a presumed promise that the journey will be easy because they have obeyed perfectly so far.  But, we know the ending: all but two of those 600,000 men never make it to the Promised Land.

Most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.  The same thing could happen to us.  We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did...Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence.  1 Corinthians 1:5-6, 12 (Msg)

The temptation is for me to stop at telling my daughter that she's beautiful, talented, and smart and she should be confident in all these things. (Which I did tell her because it's all true!)  But, the more important part of the discussion was that who she is in Christ is His perfectly loved and accepted daughter that He's working hard to make holy and she's feeling the pain.  This is true, no matter what she feels from her friends or assumes about her parents or how she performs or if she experiences some terrible, disfiguring, life-altering accident.  She can always be God-confident and not miss the Promised Land.