Get off the Waa-mbulance

Scripture: Numbers 14 Key Verse: 14:17-23
"'Lord, let your power be as great as when you said, 'The Lord...patient, forever loving...He forgives wrongdoing and disobedience...He never lets the guilty go unpunished, punishing children..for their parents' sins to the third and forth generation....' By your great love, please forgive these people's sins, as you have forgiving them from the time they left Egypt until now.' The Lord said, 'I forgive them, as you have asked. But as I live and as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, I solemnly swear that none of people who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I did in Egypt and in the desert will see the land which I promised their ancestors. They have tested me now ten times and refused to obey me. None of those who treat me with contempt will see it!'"

Objective:
God has had enough out of these complainers in chapter 14. He tells Moses that because these people have not only complain but haven't trusted God even though they have seen the miracles he has performed, and the prayers that he answered for them he was going to destroy them all. Moses reminds God of his forgiveness, and God forgives those that do not hold God in contempt. It seems though that everyone over 20 years old held God in contempt in their heart. They would not be allowed to see the promised land. The promise was handed over to the next generation.

Application:
How often have I feared something, or thought that it was the end of the world. I would have been better off dying in the desert than go through this. Its easy to say that the israelites were kinda dumb for questioning God and complaining about God's process. The problem is we do it too. Maybe not in such a way that it is as obvious as the Israelites, but in smaller ways we do it everyday. Every time we worry about something instead of listening to the promises of God we complain a bit. Hopefully we don't hold contempt for the Lord in our hearts. We can be forgiven for everything else, but if we hold contempt in our hearts we are basically saying we don't want forgiveness.
The Eagles have a song called, "Get Over It." "Spend all the time feelin' sorry for themselves. Victim of this, Victim of that. your momma's too thin; your daddy's too fat." This song looks at our culture of victimization and says what God says How long must we deal with the complaining.

Prayer:
Lord pitying myself needs to stop, I know that all things work for the glory of God. I ask that you help me and others to take solace and peace in your promises. The bad things that happen in the world are not by your design, but can still be used for the good of Your Kingdom. Help us get off the Waaa-mbulance.