The Lord said to Moses, “How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?” (Num. 14:11)
Expanded Passage: Numbers 13:1-3; 13:25—14:11
“If God could just show up in some tangible way, I’d believe,” she tells me over coffee one Saturday.
I understand her words. I’ve certainly had (many!) moments where I’ve longed to witness miracles like the ones God performed in Egypt.
Few people, if any, ever received as many divine signs as the Israelites under Moses’ leadership. God had proven his existence, as well as his trustworthiness, with dozens of miraculous proofs. Yet, here in the book of Numbers, we see God growing frustrated with Israel for their continued disbelief.
We can tell ourselves that we would have been different from the Israelites, but one of the Bible’s primary purposes is to act as a mirror. If we don’t see ourselves in the foibles of the Biblical characters, we may not be looking closely enough. Miracles may get our attention, but they do not produce faith or trust.
The evidence we need to believe in God and his goodness is there in front of us, from the way our hearts are moved by music and nature, to the facts we can study regarding archeology and the trustworthiness of Biblical manuscripts.
Maybe we don’t need more evidence to believe. Maybe we just need to put the same effort into studying the evidence already available as we do in curating our Instagram posts.
God wants to be found; have we bothered to look?
Meg Christian lives in northern Virginia and volunteers in her church as a Sunday school teacher and worship team member. She attended Roberts Wesleyan University (NY).
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
