Memories Can Be Deceptive - Numbers 10:1-11:23; Psalm 51; Proverbs 10:31-32

Do you tend to remember things in a way that justifies how you’re feeling at the moment? The Israelites did:

 

"If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost--also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" – Numbers 11:4b-6

 

These were the same people who had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. These are the people God had set free. These are the people whose firstborn sons God had spared when he wiped out the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. These are the people for whom God had plundered the Egyptians. These are the people who had walked through the Red Sea on dry ground, and had watched God drown the Egyptian army. These are the people to whom God spoke on Mt. Sinai, but who sinned and created an idol and whose brothers, sisters, moms and dads died as a result. These are the people for whom God has provided water in the desert and food in the wilderness.

 

But they were not happy. God’s food didn’t come with much variety. It really was just their daily bread, and there were only so many ways to cook manna.

 

So they grumbled and complained. And they justified their complaints by their memories of what they ate in Egypt: fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But they added one very significant lie to this memory. In their memories, they ate fish at no cost.

 

The Israelites were claiming that their situation as slaves in Egypt with free fish was better than their situation as God’s freed people in the wilderness with free bread. They would rather have fish and slavery than bread and freedom… and God!

 

Father, forgive our ungrateful hearts and our lousy, foolish memories! We tend to let our stomachs and taste buds tell us whether our circumstances are good, without looking at who is providing for us and how. We magnify the minor details and shrink what’s really important all the way until we feel justified complaining against You! Forgive us! Change us! Give us mouths and stomachs, hearts and minds that take the time to remember and honestly compare our lives with You to our lives without You. You are so good to us! Life without You was empty and meaningless as we served those who could give us no lasting reward and who cut us down for every failure. Life with You is full of goodness and purpose; it is glorious because we serve You, the giver of life forever and the Refresher and Restorer of our tired, painful bodies. Thank You for Your goodness. Give us memories that grapple with reality well.