Dealing with Difficulty

Introduction

Good morning. If you will, open in your old testaments with me to Numbers chapter 13. I appreciated very much the songs led by Michael. I wish I could tell you I was preaching on the holiness of God, but I’m not. In Numbers chapter 13, though, we do see a story of where the people should have relied upon our holy, awesome God. What’s interesting about Numbers chapter 13 and 14, our text for this morning, is an instance where we don’t just emphasize how God is to be worshipped, but how God is to be trusted even in the most difficult, darkest hour. If you were to examine the Bible pages for a story about a people who didn’t know what to do in times of trial, we don’t really think of Numbers 13 and 14.

Because if we look at Numbers chapter 13 and you recognize the context, read with me, verse 1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them. So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. Verse 16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and Moses called Hashiah the son of none Joshua. Of course, Numbers chapter 13 and 14 is the story of the twelve spies. As the people of Israel are on the precipice after all of the miraculous, mighty works that God has done, you remember not only forming the nation that came from Abraham in the land of Egypt.

You remember the ten plagues that God did when Moses kept going up to Pharaoh, and what did Pharaoh say over and again when Moses said, Let God’s people go? Pharaoh said, No. Of course, it was at that tenth plague with the death of the firstborn of all the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh said, Get out. And yet after that he sent his chariots after the people of Israel. And what was God able to do for the Israelites? He was able to let them cross over the sea and not just to cross over, but he separated it. They crossed as though on dry ground, as Hebrews chapter 11 notes it. After these great miracles and all the providing that God had done for his people, they should have recognized that what verse 2 says is very important in the story this morning.

In verse 2, read with me one more time. This command to name the spies, to send the spies, was predicated on this one clear idea in verse 1 send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. Here is the God who had done all the miracles, all the wonders, all the providing for the people of Israel. And he says, I am giving the people this land. Moses sent out, as we know, the twelve spies to go and check out if the land is good and how to go about taking this land that God had promised them. This isn’t a text that we normally think about when we think about dealing with difficulty, because when we think about this text, what’s the most common thought?

Here are the Israelites doing what again? Messing up, not trusting in God, not believing in his ultimate salvation, being upset in chapter 14, we’re going to see they complain once again. And we think this is an instance where the people need to have faith, and that’s true, because that’s how we deal with difficulty. But when we look at other passages about difficulty, like in the Psalms, there’s certainly in the book of Job and about Job’s life. We empathize with Job and David and Asaph, a psalm that we’ll consider this morning. And we say, I understand that concern. I understand what it’s like to not understand God’s picture. I know that it’s tough to be a servant of God when times seem difficult, when the world around me seems to be against me and my God.

1. When the Way Is Difficult, Remember God

But in Numbers chapter 13 and 14, I want us to see a people who look like we do, when we don’t ultimately show the trust that we should and must have as children of his. When you keep in mind what the Israelites were, in the Old Testament, they were God’s covenant people. But what we recognize in chapter 13 and 14 is there was a divide between those who were truly God’s people and those who were just it by birth and by name only. Read with me in Numbers chapter 13 and consider the first issue. When the way is difficult, we need to remember God. Pick up with me in verse 17. Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, Go up into the Negeb and up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not.

Be of good courage and bring some fruit of the land. Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zen to Rehab, near Lebo Hamath. They went up into the Negab and came to Hebron, Ahamen, Sheshkai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were there. Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. And they came to the valley of Escal and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eschal because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. At the end of the forty days, they returned from spying out the land, and they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Quran at Kadesh.

They brought back word to them and showed all the congregation, showed them the fruit of the land, and they told him, We came to the land which you sent us. Verse 27, it flows with milk and honey, and thus was its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negab, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the Jordan. When you consider this text, you see that the people actually initially started out pretty well. Back in verses 1 and 2, God told Moses, You were to do what?

Pick twelve spies and send them out to go check out the land. And that’s exactly what they did. They went out and they checked out the land. And when they saw, what did they see about the land? They saw that it was good. It was truly that land you might say that was flowing with milk and honey. The produce was wonderful, it was bountiful. But there was a big issue. Without God in the picture, if they were to try to take on this land, what stood in their way? Well, first of all, very large human beings stood in their way. Did you see that? The descendants of Anak were there. But not only that, check out the end of verse 29. It’s not just this one obstacle.

At the end of verse 29, who else dwells there? The Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites. The land was filled with foreign peoples. And if you’re Israel and you’re on the precipice of going into this land, yes, promised by God, you look at that and you say, What? This is going to be very easy? Of course not. If this wasn’t us reading with hindsight, which of course, as we know, is 2020. Do you think you’d want to sign up for that task? To go in the land and try to dislodge not only the fortified city, the people of the land that are strong, the descendants of Anna, also the Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites. Would that be a job you want to sign up for?

Maybe a few brave souls. The way it would be difficult. Of course, we recognize what is the key in this chapter. It goes all the way back to verse 2 again. Why should the Israelites not be concerned about this? Because in verse 2, when God told Moses to send out men to spy the land of Canaan, what did he say about that land? Look again at verse 2. Which I am giving to the people of Israel. In times of difficulty, we need to remember God. Look with me in Deuteronomy chapter 31. This is exactly what the people were to do. In Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 6. It’s very easy to see with the Israelites how they should have remembered God, remembered what he had done for them, remembered that he could triumph over any number of foes.

In Deuteronomy chapter 31. Begin with me in verse 2, as Moses gives his age. In verse 2, he said to them, I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, You shall not go over this Jordan. The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you will dispossess them. And Joshua will go over at your head as the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land when he destroyed them. And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you.

Note verse six be strong and courageous. Why? Do not fear or be in dread of them. Why? For it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. It’ll be interesting to note in a few later minutes of this morning’s lesson that this is actually a verse cited in the New Testament. For New Testament Christians to remember that last part, he will not leave you or forsake you. Perhaps sometimes when we read Numbers 13 and 14 and we understand how the story goes, they went out to spy out the land, and when they come back, what is their message? Not just that it’s hard, not just that there’s a lot of people there, but we’re not going to be able to take the land.

Look back in Numbers chapter 13, and note what Caleb has to speak up and say. Back in Numbers chapter 13, we’ll kind of finish out the first part of the story. In verse 30 of Numbers 13. But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it. Then the men who had gone up with them said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report out of the land that they had spied out, saying, The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. And we seem to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seem to them.

And he says, What should we do in verse 30? Let us go up at once and take the land, knowing what? Knowing God was behind them. Knowing God was with them even in this dark, trying time. I think if we’re honest about our lives, though, if we really think about it and we don’t have the hindsight that we do in Numbers chapter 13 and 14, and we don’t start all the grumbling and complaining yet in chapter 14. When the life is difficult, when we don’t see how following God is going to lead to a life that we expected. We sometimes have our doubts, don’t we? It’s hard to be a Christian when what looks like the fruits of Christianity aren’t here and now. Wasn’t that the exact difficulty with the Israelites?

What stood in the way of God? Was it that God hadn’t shown them who he was? No, of course he had, time and again. Was it because God hadn’t told them that he would give them the land? No, of course he did in verse 2. What was the problem? If you know what the problem was, what separated the ten spies from their God who should have given them victory? It was what they saw. This physical life, what they saw, the armies, the city, the fortified city. It didn’t matter how good the land was, it didn’t matter what God had said. When they looked around, they said, we can’t do this. We’re afraid, it’s difficult, we won’t make it. And the physical was able to overcome their faith in God.

You see, when we look around and we’re riddled with illness, and our families have problems, and when we ourselves face critical issues, or life doesn’t pan out the way we expect, we start to think about those physical issues even more, don’t we? It’s always easy to be the person who has nothing going wrong in those times of highs, it’s easy to be faithful and say, remember God. Think about how wonderful he is. But what about when we are like Joseph was at one point in his life in the pit? Aren’t we able to be faithful when we are in the pit? Are we able to be faithful when we’re imprisoned for our beliefs, also like Joseph? That’s when it’s difficult. And yet that’s the exact time we have to remember God.

What do we remember about God? What he has done for us, what he has promised us. And of course, if you look at Matthew chapter 7, I want to point out something a little bit interesting about this verse. In Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13 and 14, we know this very well. And often we use it to talk about how difficult it is to understand what is truth and to practice it all of our days. And Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13, enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter in by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

We read that and we say, this is how hard it is. This is how important it is to understand what God’s will is. But can I make a point about difficulty that God promises us? How easy is it to get into the kingdom of heaven? It’s not. It’s difficult. Note the description in verse 14. The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. This verse does not just mean that there are a lot of groups that teach wrong things. It does not just mean you have to find yourself in the assembly and in the pew of a church that is in sound teaching and sound doctrine with God’s will. This verse means that it will take constant commitment and understanding that if I trust in God, if I give my life over to him, he will deliver as he has promised.

2. We Have to Trust in God’s Ways

And what is God promised? Well, on the one hand, he’s promised it will be difficult to find that life, and yet, what is that life? An eternity with our God who first loved us. An eternity with God who offers us salvation so that we can transcend this life. This is not worth it. You see, what do the Israelites want to do? As we go back to chapter 14. They were caught up with the physical, and they were willing to give up. That’s the sign of what we often like to do when the way is difficult. Sometimes we want to give up because we just don’t understand how we’re supposed to move forward. In chapter 14 of Numbers, then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.

And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt? Or would that we had died in this wilderness? Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt. You see, in verse 3, that question, why is the Lord bringing us into this land? Again, with our 2020, what do we do? We think about that and we say, why would you think that? Think about what all God has done for you.

Think about all the miracles God has done, how he delivered you from Egyptian bondage. The fact that you are a nation at all is a fulfilled promise all the way back to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. How can you not remember that? But the truth is, those are the same questions we ask, whether out loud, to friends, or internally. Why is this happening to me? Or sometimes, moreover, why is this not happening to me? That question is raised, and the answer is not just be more faithful. That’s not the point of the lesson. We have to trust in God’s ways. And of course, what do we know about those ways? In Isaiah chapter 55, God’s ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than our ways. We have to remember our God that He has promised us great things, but that the victory is not in this life. Once again, the reason the people did not understand was because the physical was topping the spiritual. The physical was topping their faith in God. That is our problem when we get dismayed. And it’s not just this idea of panic. In chapter 14, what are they wanting to do? They’re not just blaming God, but in verse 4, they want to eskew leadership. We need a new leader. We need to go back where? To Egypt, where we’re what? Where we were in bondage, where we were slaves. They weren’t willing to just go the one extra mile.

And by the way, what do we know about that extra mile from the book of Joshua? God absolutely would and did deliver that land to them. And it was a wonderful, bountiful land, just as God had promised. But too often we find ourselves on the precipice of doing God’s will, and that’s when we stop because we think we can’t go any further because the devil uses his number one tool. And it’s not temptation in and of itself. It’s not an allurement of sin. I think his number one tool is discouragement. His number one tool is to say, do you really think that God has a plan for you? And if this is God’s plan for you, isn’t he better than that? Aren’t you better off doing things your own way?

Why would you stop and pray? Why would you read the Bible? It’s not working out for you. And the only way that argument works is when we give in to the physical. And when we look around and we see nothing but large, fortified cities, large enemies that we on our own could not defeat. And the truth is, on our own, on their own, the Israelites would not have been able to have this victory. The Israelites would not have been able to defeat them. But they could. Why? Because God was with them. When I don’t understand why things are happening, when my life is difficult, the only way I’m going to be victorious is not through just reading the Bible. It’s not through showing up for worship.

It’s understanding that I have to be with the God who gives all victory. But where is God’s focus? It’s not the here and now. Yes, Matthew chapter 6 says, if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things shall be added to you. Yes, the things of this life God will provide for, but God wants us to be with Him. God wants us to focus on the spiritual. And this was the problem the Israelites were lacking in. Their focus was not on the God who guided them out or who would guide them in. Their focus was on where they were stuck. In Proverbs chapter 3, turn there with me. A passage that is one of those bumper sticker passages or bulletin boards or kitchen, you know, magnets, whatever.

Whatever you do with Bible verses, Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6 is a good one. I guess Pinterest would be more up to date. Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Explicitly the proverbial writer says, Well, do not lean on your own understanding. And all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. That passage does not promise you great riches, or that your life plan will turn out the way it expected. If I asked for a show of hands this morning, whose life, the last 10 years, panned out exactly the way you’d thought. Anyone? That’s good. No sermons online coming at 11 o’clock. God’s ways are higher than our ways. It’s easy to say that.

It’s easy to read that in Isaiah chapter 55. It’s easy to read Proverbs chapter 3 that we need to trust in the Lord with all our heart, not lean on our own understanding. The problem is we follow God oftentimes as long as it corresponds with the road we want to go on anyway. As long as it’s exactly what I want, hey, why leave the path of God? Where it gets difficult is when my way and God’s ways intersect. Then what do we do? Well, the Bible is very clear. When we don’t know what’s going on, or when our understanding is doubting, who should we lean on anyway? We need to trust in the Lord with all our heart. Why? The end of verse 6 is important and probably often left off these two verses.

3. When Everyone Around Seems to Doubt, Hold to the Faith

He will make straight our paths. God’s way is the one to be on. We want to find that narrow, difficult way that leads to life. Trust in God. That doesn’t mean it will be easy. It doesn’t mean it’ll be great. But it does mean that our God is great. Our God is trustworthy, and that we can do that if we trust in him. Consider one final point in Numbers chapter 14, if you note the anarchy beginning in chapter 14, when they start complaining, oh, that we had just died. Oh, that God would send us to die by the sword. Oh, we want to be back in Egyptian captivity. And verse 5. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in Numbers 14, before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.

And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephanah, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, the land which we passed through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land. Note verse 8 is the key. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bred for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. And you say, Yes, they’re standing up for God’s principles.

This is a turning point for the people of Israel. And then you read verse 10. Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. The glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. And by the way, what is the Lord’s response to this type of problem? The Lord said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? How long will they not believe in me in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you, speaking to Moses, a nation greater and mightier than they. And of course, Moses is able to talk down God from that idea. But consider verse 10 again.

When Joshua stood up, when they said, Let us trust in God. If God delights in us, he will bring us into the land. When reason and trust was in a finally in the spotlight. And verse 10, what did those who were preoccupied with the physical life do? In verse 10, all the congregation said to stone them with stones.

And it’s very easy to preach platitudes and to read through the Bible and point out how the Israelites were silly for doing that, and then say, but you don’t understand this position. Or to say conceptually while preaching or listening and say, Yeah, that’s right, I need to do that, and then it gets really hard again, and my ways intersect with God’s ways, and I have to make this crucial decision in my life. Who will I trust? Whose understanding will I lean on? And then when I finally remember what God has done, when I trust that God will make my path straight, and that being with God forever is the point of trusting in our creator who first loved us. That’s not it. Then I have to be able to stand up against everyone around who’s gonna doubt, try to compromise, or even come right at you with all that they have.

In verse 10, this was not an American reaction to Joshua. We think we’re persecuted here now because of free speech rights and those types of political issues that often weigh on our minds rather than spiritual ones. You look at what Joshua faced. He was going to be stoned for standing up for what should have been bedrock Israelite principles, trusting in the God who first delivered them, trusting in God who made a covenant with them. We have to be willing to stand up for what’s right. The only way to do that is if we first understand that God needs to be trusted, and that’s all that matters. Did you notice that Joshua didn’t argue with them about how silly it was that they wanted to go back into Egyptian captivity?

4. I Will Remember the Deeds of the Lord

Did you notice that neither Joshua nor Caleb, at least as is recorded, stood back and said, You know what? You guys are being really silly right now. You want to go back and be slaves in Egypt. You were trying to do everything you could to get out of Egyptian captivity. No, what was his focus in verse 8? If the Lord delights in us, he will give us the land. And that is the promise God makes us today. When we doubt, remember what he has done. When we don’t understand, trust in his ways. And when everyone around seems to doubt, hold to the faith. In Psalm chapter 77, consider one of those psalms that is so to the point of this type of lesson. In Psalm 77, a psalm of Asaph, who, if you read any of the Psalms, you recognize he is a wonderful psalmist who is very open and honest with God.

In Psalm 77, in verse 1, I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord, in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying, my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan. When I meditate, my spirit faints. You hold my eyelids open, I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, Let me remember my song in the night, let me meditate in my heart. Then my spirit made a diligent search. Will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he in anger shut up his compassion? And you see at once the conflicted Asaph. It’s not that he didn’t know who God was, he was meditating. He recognized in verse 3 he remembered God. But he also had questions such as has God forgotten to be gracious in verse 9? Has he in anger shut up his compassion in verse 9? Verse 10, then I said, I will appeal to this to the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will what? Remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What God is great like our God. You are the God who works wonders.

You have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid. Indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water, the skies gave forth thunder, your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind. Your lightnings lighted up the world. The earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters, yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. What did Asaph do when he was questioning where is God? He didn’t turn back. He didn’t doubt, although he expressed his concerns.

Asaph pivoted in this section in verse 10 and 11. Note what he said one more time. When we don’t understand the difficulties of life, and we don’t understand why it’s happening this way, that doesn’t mean we need to chastise ourselves. It means we need to look and trust to God. When everyone around us doubts, ridicules, persecutes. We need to trust in the God who’s been there and done that. In verse 10, what was the pivot? Then I said, I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy.

Conclusion

And what God is great, like our God. When we remember how difficult life is, we would do well to remember and meditate on how much more awesome our God has been and forever will be. Remember this important quote about God. When the time is dark, always remember what you learned about God in the light. Too often we askew in the darkness where God is.

Trust in Him. Remember Him. Hold to the faith. Will you go to God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we’re so thankful to you for revealing your will to us. Thank you for being our mighty God who blessed us with yet another day to live. And we pray that this very morning that we serve you in a pleasing way, that our sacrifices in spirit and truth will be done so in a manner pleasing to you, that it will be acceptable in your sight. Forgive us of when we do wrong. Forgive us of when we pick our ways over yours, of when we look all around, but not to you. Help us to look up, help us to move forward.

Help us to be dedicated servants of yours. We’re so thankful for your revealed word, and we pray that as we study it, we recognize how we can be better and how we can come to a better knowledge of who you are and what your expectations are for us. Thank you for all these blessings, and we pray that as we go into our Bible class hour and our worship, that we’ll do so with open hearts and minds, being willing to be changed into your image, into the image of your Son. Thank you for this day. We pray that you be with those who are unable to be out this morning. It’s in your Son’s name we do pray. Amen. We’re now dismissed to our Bible class.