His Arm Is Not Short

Reference: Numbers 11

Moses reached a point where he was so drained and tired of Israel’s constant complaints over mere food that he asked God to kill him on the spot. The burden of leading a people who constantly grumbled had become too heavy for him to carry. But God, in His deep understanding, did not shame and rebuke Moses for being honest, nor did He criticise his fatigue. Instead, He responded with compassion. He took the Spirit that had been upon Moses and placed it on seventy trusted elders so they could share the weight of leadership with him.

Reading Moses's conversation with God gave me great comfort as I have found myself feeling the same. If someone like Moses, who spoke with God face to face, could feel exhaustion and say this kind of thing, then maybe I am not as alone or as weak as I thought.

The next part of Moses’s story really hits home. God met with Moses's doubt after promising to provide meat for the people for an entire month. Still weary, Moses questioned how God could possibly fulfill such a request. In his eyes, it would take slaughtering countless flocks and herds or gathering all the fish in the sea just to feed over 600 thousand men. It sounded impossible.

I have done the same thing in my tiredness, when I considered God's ways in human terms and found my vision of Him weakened. I forget who He is and start thinking in terms of what I can see and understand. I fail to consider how equally impossible it had been for manna to fall from the sky every single day, yet God had been providing it without fail. If He could do that, why not meat? If He has already worked miracles in my past, He can do the same even now.

God’s response to Moses reminded him of who God is: “Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true.” That line pierces through my own doubts and calls me back to trust in a God who is not weak and limited by the seemingly increased difficulty of the request. Whether the need is manna from heaven or meat in the wilderness, or hope in my tired soul, He is still the same faithful God. What He has said, He will do.

So in my tiredness, I breathe. I remember that even my ability to still take a breath every second is His way of providing and sustaining me with His life. The burden may not have disappeared, but I am not carrying it alone. God is still proving Himself faithful. Though I may feel too weak to carry on, I will continually choose to lean in His arms.