Confession may be the number one staple of the Christian walk. Since we had a sin nature before and have one after we've professed faith in Christ, are we not subject to failure when that old sinful nature within us rises up and takes control? For sure. But is there a way to live above the influence of the old nature and avoid sinful compromise? Yes and He has a name: the Holy Spirit gives us power to live according to God's law and turn from sin's influence. (See Romans 8) But when we simply can't avoid sin, confession makes a way for us to find forgiveness and enjoy fellowship with God once again.

The Israelites had the ability to live above sin as do we, but it seems they always chose to sin rather than obey God's word. In fact, nearly every page of the Old Testament (especially the book of Numbers), records the woeful propensity of God's people to sin. It's as if they felt immune to sin's effect and numb to God's convicting Spirit.

If anything good however comes from the failure of the Israelites, its the fact we can track the cause and effect of specific sin through their experience. In other words, we can read what God commanded,what they did in response to hearing it, how God responded and what happened to them as a result, what was required to restore a broken fellowship, how the people acted afterwards and so on. The sin of complaining is a perfect example.

Most people think complaining is a right. After all, how will someone know what we're going through if we don't tell them, right? Wrong. Complaining can be viewed as a combination of several sins. First, griping reveals an ungrateful spirit, a lack of faith and an unwillingness to see problems as God's way of building character in his children. Instead of having a grateful spirit in true humility, we worry, fail to yield our personal possessions to God (meekness), have an impatient spirit revealed by our jealousy and haughty spirit. However, when we've truly learned to live above sin's influence, we'll demonstrate patience, contentment with a grateful heart, a genuine trust in God, his timing and purpose.

Sin is never a right, but a failure. When the Israelites complained to Moses about their over exaggerated circumstance, God heard there words and gave them what they feared. Now that you know how God sometimes responds to complainers, is it possible there are now problems in your life that came as a result of similar sin? Perhaps God decided the best way to teach you trust, was to deliver to your doorstep your worst fear?

The person who said, "There's nothing to fear except fear itself," failed to take God's creativity into consideration when he made the statement. We now know the truth of the matter: "There's nothing to fear except God."

1. Pray Through the Word - 365 devotionals on the subject of prayer by James R. Green (Nu 14; John 7)
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society

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