Stop, Look and Listen for God

…they did not believe God
or trust him to care for them.
Psalm 78:22, NLT*

The Psalmist is reviewing Israel’s history, as a parable to teach the people. He looks at what God did on the journey out of Egypt and until the time of King David, and he looks at how the people repeatedly rebelled, “stubbornly tested God” and complained.

All God wanted them to do was believe, trust and obey Him. You’d think He gave enough proof of His power and love that they could discern the pattern: God was leading, and He would meet their needs.

In these verses, they’d complained that God could give them water but couldn’t feed them. He proved them wrong, and it wasn’t pretty. (See verses 23-31)

They had a cloud leading them, and they saw God’s miracles. Christians today have the Holy Spirit leading from within us, and we sometimes see His miracles too. If we pay attention, we see His touch on our lives. But these verses remind me how important it is to stop, look and listen for God, and to deliberately trust Him. It’s how we’re designed to live.

Holy and powerful God, how much easier it would have been for the Israelites if they’d been able to believe and to trust in You. You know our weaknesses, and that we’re no stronger today than they were. Please give us faith to believe You, and help us choose to trust You.

Since we’re as wayward as sheep, I thought this was a fitting song: Todd Agnew singing “Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us.”

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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