When God doesn't listen

Perhaps one of the most frustrating phenomena of parenting younger children is their inability to listen. As a parent of an 11 year old and a 7 year old, I know all to well the irritation of a child who is completely distracted and patently oblivious to the requests of their parental unit. Technology is the greatest culprit of distraction in our house. I now present to you exhibit A. Parents, see if any of you can relate to my dilemma. I arose this morning, all to early mind you, to awaken my eleven year old from his peaceful sleep so that we could leave earlier than normal for school. The reason why we were leaving early is that my forgetful prodigy neglected to bring home his science book. This was only a problem because He conveniently and craftily mentioned to us last night at the table, that he had a science test today for which he forgot to study. So we’re all up and getting ready before the sun so that he can get 10 minutes of study in before the test. My final instructions as my son descended the stairs were as follows: put your shoes on and make your breakfast. By the time I woke the princess up, it was a good ten minutes later before her and I completed her wardrobe for inside-out day and made our way downstairs. As we turned the corner and headed for the kitchen, we were greeted with the spectacle of my son staring mindlessly at the television watching some cartoon about slugs. In one hand were the pair of socks I had handed him and the other hand gripped the shoes that were by this time supposed to be on his feet. I responded, “Son, get your shoes on and make your breakfast.” Second time.

Thinking nothing else of it, I retired to the kitchen to begin making lunches. First; a salad complete with Olive Garden dressing for the diva, then I began to make his the favorite meal, a perennial favorite of pre-teen boys, pizza. Upon completing said lunches I came around the corner to once again behold my beloved son, once again staring at the glorious slugs gracing the television screen instead of placing the now infamous and aforementioned sneakers on his ever growing feet. “Colby,” I exclaimed much louder than the roaring television. His young head snapped around obviously startled by my interjection into the world of slug terra. “What?” He responded in obvious frustration. In a much more demonstrative manner than before I asserted, “Put-your-shoes-and-make-your-breakfast!” slowing the pace for emphasis and clarity. Some of the extreme measures that this frustrated father has resorted to have included mindlessly repeating the same phrase repeatedly. “Clean your room, clean your room, clean your room, clean your room!” a trick I learned from comedic genius turned felon, Bill Cosby. I’ve also intentionally placed myself in the midst of my son’s sight line for the rectangled distraction placed prominently in my living room. I make a pretty good obstruction when I need to.

Either way, my point is that no one wants to be ignored. Though the shoe may be on the other foot, have you ever felt like God wasn’t listening to you? It can feel that way sometimes when we cry out to God for help or wisdom or direction, sometimes it can feel as if God is downright ignoring us. Almost like we’re on this journey, God has led us into the wilderness and forgotten about us, and now all that’s left is for us to die. Such was the case with the children of Israel in Numbers 26. The children of Israel had wandered in the wilderness for years and they might have been tempted to complain, wait, who am I kidding, they did…incessantly! The temptation to complain when we aren’t being heard is about as strong as my son’s urge to stare at a television instead of make his breakfast. Yet at the end of this boring chapter in Numbers 26, is an incredible example of the faithfulness of God to wilderness wanderers who are convinced God isn’t listening.

The chapter begins with God having Moses number the children of Israel. That’s right! God wanted Moses to count every man 20 years of age or older (Numbers 26:4). Fifty one verses and a whole lot of funny names and clans of insects later we learn that there are now 601,730 of them in all. Why would God do this? Is He a bit Obsessive-Compulsive and just really likes to count things? Does he want to know if Moses can count that high? I guess when you wander in the wilderness for long enough, you run out of things to do. Maybe that’s what it was a new counting game to pass the time during those endless hours in the back seat on the way to the beach. If you really want to know the answer, you can find out here.

If you’ll recall, the book begins with a numbering of the children of Israel as well. These were God’s people who had entered into a covenant relationship with Him on the side of Mount Sinai where a covenant of law had been drawn up. God wanted them to know that He knew every single one of them, every name, every person, He had not forgotten a single one. He numbered them all. He had taken them from bondage, had promised to take them to a promised home, and had come to be with them every dusty step of that wilderness journey. When they came to edge of that land that God had brought them to, their faith faltered. They didn’t believe their God was big enough to protect them from the giants of the land and their unbelief prohibited them from receiving everything that God had prepared for them.

So as a punishment, God forbid them to enter the land and turned them back into the wilderness. Every single one of that generation would die as a result of that unbelief; a tragic consequence of their sin. As an aside, death is always the tragic consequence of unbelief. It’s another gospel implication we learn from the book of Numbers. There were two exceptions, men who had been faithful and believed, Joshua and Caleb. Fast forward forty years, and now in Numbers 26, we see the children of Israel once again gracing the banks of the Jordan. Prior to their entrance to the Promised Land, God has Moses once again number the people. True to His promise, as they number all the over six hundred thousand Jewish men, not a single one remains of that unbelieving generation, not a single one, save Joshua and Caleb. God had brought them through the wilderness and now they are about to receive the beautiful and bountiful blessings of the Promised Land.

So what does all this have to do with you and I? What I want you to remember is that even when you are convinced God is not listening, He is watching. God is the divine Time Keeper and He knows the purposes that He has and He knows exactly where you are in your wilderness, and better yet, how this wilderness works into His divine plans. Sure you’ll be tempted to complain, sure you’ll be frustrated by the journey, but at the end of the day, God’s purposes will prevail. He will bring you out, He knows the way you take, He understands your wilderness. What you must do instead of be fretful, is be faithful; a faithfulness that is highlighted by the wilderness in which you wander. You are His covenant people assembled around another mountain. I love the way the Hebrew writer puts it,

“For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:18-24 ESV)”

You are one of His people, He will carry you through the wilderness, and will be shown as faithful as you make your entrance into your Promised Land. Even when you think He may not be listening, He is always watching. Your heavenly Guide, the firstborn of this new generation, the Mediator of the new covenant, whose blood speaks a better word has led you to your homeland, the heavenly Jerusalem, where your arrival will be trumpeted “with innumerable angels in festal gathering.”