You Hate Me

It can be a funny line in a movie. A man’s wife commits him to do something he does not want to do. Maybe it is a hard job that needs to be done, but he does not want to. Or, maybe it is a dinner with some folks he really would rather avoid. In mock exasperation, he will look at her and say, “You hate me, don’t you?”

Maybe that is funny in a comedy, but this is a big problem when it is the people of God grumbling about the ways of the Lord. In Deuteronomy 1, Moses is reminding the people of Israel of all that they have been through over the past 40 years. Included in that account is the account of the grumbling of the nation. And one particular gripe that catches my attention is the way that the Israelites groaned about the call of God to go in and take the promised land.

Deuteronomy 1:26-29 – 26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” ’

Israel took one look at the land, and it was all God had promised. It was lush and fruitful. But there were some big, tough guys there. There were cities with big walls there. And the people of Israel decided that, even though they had just seen God extract them from Egypt, he would not be able to help them to walk into Canaan victorious.

In perhaps the most troubling part of this discussion, the people said about God, “Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt.” Get how sad that sounds. God rescued them from cruel, murderous, harsh task masters. God brought them out and provided for them to travel through the wilderness to head to the land. They had what they needed. They had seen God’s miracles. But, the moment something looked hard, they turned to God and cried, “You hate me.”

And I wonder, how often do we let ourselves feel this way? How often do we let our self-pity get the better of us? How often do we face hard circumstances, decide God has not treated us fairly, and whine about it? How often do we decide that, if things do not go according to our plan, God must be treating us wrongly?

Christians, let us remember the things that the Lord has revealed about himself. The Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever. The Lord is holy, holy, holy. He cannot do us wrong. But his plans are bigger than we are. His vision sees further than we can. His sovereign hand can accomplish what we cannot even dream of. His power is unlimited. His wisdom is so far beyond us it is like trying to go from earth to the highest heavens to measure the gap.

Can we doubt God’s love? God demonstrated to us his perfect love when he gave his own Son to die to rescue us (Rom. 5:8). May we not question God’s plan for good in our lives. May we not question God’s wisdom or ability. May we not grumble when life is hard. Instead, may we remember who God is, what he has already done to rescue us, and trust him. May we obey him instead of fearing the big cities and tough guys we face. May we know that the Lord’s plan will always prevail.