When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. – Numbers 21:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 14, 2012): Numbers 21

I like to try to play chess. I think I have mentioned that I am a very inconsistent player. My problem is twofold. The first is that I do not see my opponents strategy strongly enough. A major part of the game is not found in reacting to what you see on the board, but seeing what your opponents next moves are going to be and reacting to them, shaping them in a way that benefits you. And while I freely admit that I often struggle with that part of my game, probably my biggest problem is my pride. I can go on winning streaks and then I let my guard down – and the losing begins. I start to forget the simple fundamental things that allowed me to win – I think my strategy can carry me where my fundamental play has succeeded in the past. And, every time, I am wrong.

The Christian motto is often “strength in weakness” – or “when I am weak, then he is strong.” There is a reason for that. Whenever we work in the places where we have experience and confidence, pride lurks in the surrounding darkness. And when we start to believe the lie of the expert, we begin to experience pride – it is the feeling that we know exactly what it is that we are doing. And in that moment, disaster is never closer.

If there is one thing that Israel knew, it was how to live in the desert and defeat the enemies that dared to attack them in what had become their environment. After all, they had been doing it for thirty-eight long years. By now, most of their people of the fledgling nation had been born in the desert. They had known no other kind of life. But they were also about to transition into a different life, one away from the desert. And to be successful at that life, they would need to remember their reliance on God; that it is when they are weak that they can find their own strength. The battle with Arad had been a wake-up call. They had lost a battle that their experience told them that they should have won – all because they forgot the one who had been guiding them all the way through the desert.

Whenever you feel you are strong – every time you rely on your education or feel that you should know something – you are treading close to failure. Pride has a way of weighing us down so that we no longer see the solution that we need. And then we begin to trust less in him. And that is a dangerous combination.

You may be good and equipped for a task, without God you will fail. It was the truth of the situation that Israel needed to be reminded of.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 22