How does God display His perfect justice? In today’s passage we see that God often allows us to experience the consequences of our sin even after we have been forgiven.

Now we must realize first that God’s pardon of His people was real. He continued to lead them in the desert by a pillar and cloud and fire. He continued to feed them with miraculous manna from Heaven. He continued to speak to Moses so that the people would know His perfect will for them. In all these ways, He continued to pour out His blessings on His people.

But at the same time, He expressed His perfect justice by withholding the blessing that the people said they didn’t want. For as they had come to the borders of the Promised Land, they had decided that they did not, after all, want to go there. After they took a good, long look at the bounty of the land but also at its numerous inhabitants, they allowed their fear to overcome their faith. At the beginning of this chapter, they all said to one another, “Wouldn’t it be better if we went back to Egypt? Wouldn’t it be better to live as slaves than to die as warriors?” And so they rejected both the promise and the gift God wanted to give them.

I wonder what gifts of God we are rejecting because of our lack of faith in His promises. Maybe you’ve missed out on the blessings of marriage because of your fear of rejection or failure. Maybe you’ve missed out on a better job because you didn’t think God could help you meet its challenges. Maybe you’ve missed out on the blessings of children because you were so focused on your career, not trusting God to provide for you and your family. Maybe you’ve missed out on an education because of your fear that you wouldn’t be able to pass those tests and make those grades.

No, God is no bully. He’s not going to force blessings on you that you are too fearful to accept. But the good news is that, no matter how many mistakes we’ve made in the past, no matter how many times we’ve let our fears overcome our faith, God is always ready to forgive us and give us a fresh start. Notice how differently God treats Caleb in verse 24. He would eventually receive the gift of God because he had a different spirit and because He chose to follow the Lord, even into a fearsome future.

So, may we all accept the pardon God offers us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. May we be filled with His Spirit, which is not a Spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control (II Timothy 1:7). And may we turn away from our fears and follow Him today, no matter where He leads us. For only in following Him can we find true blessing.

Numbers 14:20-25 (ESV)

20 Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word.
21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,
22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,
23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.
24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”