Numbers 21:4 – “Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.
The Israelites had been traveling through the desert wilderness to the land of promise. But we do not know if they went around the south of Edom or to the north, between Edom and Moab. As they traveled it was hot, and there was little water. But God promised them He would guide them and provide for them. Like many of us they became discouraged. If only they had trusted God’s promise that He who had led would continue to lead, if only they had believed that he who had supplied would continue to supply, instead of being discouraged they would have been encouraged. When we get down to discouragement it turns into encouragement when we look away from our circumstances and focus our eyes on the Lord.
So let’s all keep our eyes on Christ as David did in 1 Samuel 30:6 which says: “And David was greatly distressed fort the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God”. When in the midst of trouble, there is where he got his strength. Today things may not look to good and you [personally] and especially our nation may be in the wilderness and it may be easy for us to get discouraged. You need to remember discouragement is a tool of Satan. But victory comes from our Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work at the Cross of Calvary.
Will our distress drive us to despair and discouragement or to God? May we, like David find strength in the Lord!
Someone has said, “To look around is to be distressed; to look within is to be depressed; to look up is to be blessed.”
I pray that the Lord will bless each of you as you walk with him daily. Walk as Christ walked.
