Date: May 17, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 1
“Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert.” (Num 14:33NIV)
Why did God say that the children of the Israelites that rebelled against Him in the wilderness, when He was leading them into the Land of Promise, would be nothing but shepherds for forty years? Was it because that was the only vocation available for humans at that time? No! There were all sorts of vocations that people could learn and practise then.
In fact, as we see in Scriptures, there were all kinds of skilled workers among these Israelites at that time. For example, we have people like Bezalel and Oholiab among them at the time. And these young men were experts in all kinds of crafts. There were also among them women who were skilled in spinning cloth materials. (Cf. Ex 31:1-11 & 35:25-26)
So, at that time, there was no shortage of skills to engage in all kinds of vocations that could transform a land into a wonder among these Israelites. But how much could they accomplish for themselves and their nation with their various skills and vocations while wandering in the wilderness? Not much!
The prevailing circumstances in that wilderness did not give much room for them to fully utilise whatever special skills or abilities they had and build great vocations or careers with them. They could not settle down there to farm. They could not settle down there to build houses. And they could not set up a market there for people from different nations to come and trade in. The best they could do there was take care of their animals and wait until God led them out of there into the land flowing with milk and honey, which He had promised them.
But why, then, didn’t they just get out of the wilderness and move into the land God had promised them? They could not. They could not because they had no power of their own to take that land. God had to give it to them. Then why was God not giving it to them, since He had promised to do so? It was because He did not want the unbelieving older generations among them to enter the land. So, He was waiting until the last one of them died before giving the land to their descendants, something that took forty years. And that, of course, also means that those qualified to enter that land of rest and prosperity were stuck in the wilderness because of their natural relationships, their relationships with their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties and so forth.
What is the point of all this? It is that the circumstances of our birth or of where we are can put certain limitations on us, even lifetime limitations. Yes, the circumstances of our family or those of where we live, work, do business or study can keep us in poverty, illiteracy, danger or illness. And it does not matter how hardworking, diligent, educated or gifted we may be, those circumstances may never allow us to attain certain heights of usefulness, prominence, prosperity or comfort in life.
Unfortunately, many don’t know this. They don’t know that regardless of what degree of hard work, diligence or carefulness they employ where they are, as long as certain circumstances are prevalent there or in their families, their efforts will not succeed in giving them the experience of prosperity or peace that they desire. So, they keep putting in more effort. And if they are not shown mercy by God, frustration and depression are bound to set in at some point and ruin them.
What, then, do such people need? They need divine intervention. In other words, they need God to step into their situation. And what will that accomplish? First, when God steps into their situation, He will open their eyes to see what their problem really is, which is that they are being limited or hindered by certain circumstances of their lives. Second, He will take steps to remove or change the circumstances limiting them or take them away from those circumstances to where they need to be to flourish and be all that He wants them to be.
In the case of the Israelites that we are considering, God, at the right time, had to lead them out of the wilderness into the land He had prepared for them, so that they could flourish with their gifts, abilities and vocations. Otherwise, their names and memories would have disappeared along with them in the wilderness. But in the case of Isaac, when he was living in Gerar and there was a severe famine in the land, all God needed to do was give him favourable circumstances. So, though it was a time of severe famine, the man still rose above all odds and flourished in the land. (Cf. Gen 26)
So, if you feel or can see that certain prevailing circumstances where you are have been working against you and making nonsense of your diligent labour or carefulness and forcing poverty, illness, illiteracy or any other terrible thing on you, don’t waste time at all to take the case up with God. That is because He is the only person that can show you what to do and also fix the problem for you. And He will surely have it handled for you, if you will patiently allow Him.
But if you choose to use your own wisdom to address things and move to where you should not move to or stay where you need to get away from, you will someday realise, like Naomi of bible days, that you have not solved your problem at all but have only made it worse (Ruth 1). My earnest prayer is that you will act wise in this matter and not make things worse for yourself while you are trying to handle them. Amen.