The “Number” of Times God Proves He’s Faithful
Since Christmas, my sisters and I have been reading through the devotional book Everyday Gospel, gifted to each of us by our mom. This book was one of my favorite Christmas presents because not only does it provide a year-long bible reading plan, but it has allowed my sisters and I to stay in touch each day as we work through the daily devotions. We share in our group chat our insight or thoughts or reflections on the passages of the day.
The past few weeks, our reading plan has landed us in the book of Numbers where honestly, the fact that we are all holding each other accountable each day is the main thing getting me through! The commentary in the group chat has been pretty minimal, not a lot of insights or thoughts going on. It's really more just encouragement to keep reading on.
Going through the long, detailed descriptions of census information, tribal arrangement, offerings, laws of ritual purity, and priestly duties, I often find myself wondering…“God, why did you include all of this? Do I really need to know all these specifics?” They don’t seem very relatable or impactful and I struggle to understand their importance and relevance in today’s world.
As I sat and reflected on this, I discovered that in the book of Numbers, through all the detailed descriptions and overload of information, we see God as a faithful provider and ever-present Father concerned with leading His people through the wilderness to the land He promised them. He graciously gives His people specific details and instructions on how to live and expects them to trust and obey Him. Despite their failures (and complaining), God continues to love, protect, guide, and provide for His people. The book of Numbers shows us how much God cares, how faithful He is, despite our faithlessness, and how concerned He is with even the smallest details of our lives. He never gives up on us and the book of Numbers points us to Jesus, who fulfills all of the laws and specifics that we could never live up to.
I think as students going through our day to day routines, we can get weighed down by all the repetitive, mundane and just daily activities of our lives. I know I can: finishing assigned readings for class, working through stats homework, trying to find parking when I’m running late, restocking and cleaning the bathroom at the Study Center etc... But when I take a step back, I can see that God is purposeful and present in each and every detail of our lives. All of the detailed explanations and descriptions throughout the book of Numbers remind us how God always has and always will demonstrate His faithfulness to us as He cares deeply about each and every detail of our lives.
He loves us and the details of our lives matter to Him. As it says in Psalm 139, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” What a comfort this is in every season of our lives! I think I'll have to send that in the sisters’ group chat :)
