Solid Rock Under My Feet
Numbers 20:2–6
"Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them."
It happens to the best of us. The prophet Elijah grumbled, and lost heart in the face of overwhelming odds; "while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors (I Kin 19:5)." Or when hopes and desires get dashed by disappointments like the prophet Jonah exclaimed "Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live (Jon 4:3)." All of us tend to forget how great, powerful, good, fair, just, and loving God is. We all have to deal with doubt on many layers of our comprehension of God —His existence, His character, and His relationship to us. But faith takes us to another level of understanding. Just as courage is persisting in the face of fear, so faith is persisting in the presence of doubt. Faith becomes then a commitment, a practice and a pact that is usually sustained by trust and belief, "despite our changing moods" (Lewis). The writer Flannery O'Connor said there was "no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe," but for her, these torments were "the process by which faith is deepened." Faith is not an epistemological category per se, but it does help us in becoming somewhat certain of what's to be expected of God and other things we put our trust into based on previous experience and what we already know rationally about them. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1)." Among such only God is truly faithful, that's why we liken Christ to a rock and cornerstone on which everything depends on, the only sure firm foundation. "He's solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I'm set for life. My help and glory are in God. So trust him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for Him. God is a safe place to be (Psa 62:6–8)."
"Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them."
It happens to the best of us. The prophet Elijah grumbled, and lost heart in the face of overwhelming odds; "while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors (I Kin 19:5)." Or when hopes and desires get dashed by disappointments like the prophet Jonah exclaimed "Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live (Jon 4:3)." All of us tend to forget how great, powerful, good, fair, just, and loving God is. We all have to deal with doubt on many layers of our comprehension of God —His existence, His character, and His relationship to us. But faith takes us to another level of understanding. Just as courage is persisting in the face of fear, so faith is persisting in the presence of doubt. Faith becomes then a commitment, a practice and a pact that is usually sustained by trust and belief, "despite our changing moods" (Lewis). The writer Flannery O'Connor said there was "no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe," but for her, these torments were "the process by which faith is deepened." Faith is not an epistemological category per se, but it does help us in becoming somewhat certain of what's to be expected of God and other things we put our trust into based on previous experience and what we already know rationally about them. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1)." Among such only God is truly faithful, that's why we liken Christ to a rock and cornerstone on which everything depends on, the only sure firm foundation. "He's solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I'm set for life. My help and glory are in God. So trust him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for Him. God is a safe place to be (Psa 62:6–8)."
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