Fear or Faith? (Numbers 12-14 / Mark 5)

There are some people today who would seemingly die for a vision or dream (Num. 12:6) from the Lord. However, is it not better just to have a personal relationship with God where we can talk to and hear from Him (Num. 12:8)? This is the type of relationship Moses had with the Lord. The sin of the Israelites in Num. 13-14 boils down to a lack of trust in God. "And without faith, it is impossible to please" God (Hebrews 11:6). The Israelites had forgotten that "with God, all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). These men, who probably resembled Goliath, were of no match to God, however, the Israelites allowed their fear of man to overcome their "fear of God." If you struggle with the "fear of man" issue, I recommend you read the book, When Man is Big and God is Small.

Remember, the book of Mark is about displaying Jesus as the Son of God (Mark 1:1). So Mark 5:21-43 continues along that path displaying Jesus's power over sickness and disease. However, I would like to contrast this reading with the OT passage we read today. We see two people in this passage who display the kind of faith the Lord is looking for (v. 28, 36). So the question for us today is will we decide to trust God's Word and have faith or will we choose not to.