Fed Up

Telling God where to Go

Do you ever find yourself getting fed up and very angry with God?

I love Moses. Time and time again he lets God have it, responds to him with complete unbelief, anger or fear, and yet God gently responds each time without condemnation.

My favorite interaction is in the book of Numbers chapter 11, translated in the message. Moses sounds exactly like I feel some times.

Numbers 11:10 Moses heard the whining, all those families whining in front of their tents. God’s anger blazed up. Moses saw that things were in a bad way. 11 Moses said to God, “Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? 12 Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? 13 Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, ‘Give us meat; we want meat.’ 14 I can’t do this by myself—it’s too much, all these people. 15 If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I’ve seen enough; I’ve had enough. Let me out of here.”

I am encouraged and challenged by God’s gentle and hope giving response:

^16-17 God said to Moses, “Gather together seventy men from among the leaders of Israel, men whom you know to be respected and responsible. Take them to the Tent of Meeting. I’ll meet you there. I’ll come down and speak with you. I’ll take some of the Spirit that is on you and place it on them; they’ll then be able to take some of the load of this people—you won’t have to carry the whole thing alone.

Looking at the story of Moses I can see how many times he cried to God out of distress and anger, and yet even though he wasn’t addressing God very respectfully, God heard beyond the hurts and the fears to Moses heart. I love that.

I have a sense that if the only way you can be honest with God is to swear at him, he would rather that than you pretend that everything is o.k.

I expect I am going to continue to get fed up with God. I love that when I pray I can just let it out, and somehow He will make sense of the mess and help me find a way through.