Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late

by James MacDonald

  There they were on the edge of “the land flowing with milk and honey,” as the Lord had called it, meaning that it was a very cool place to live in every way. There they were, finally ready to step into all the blessing and joy that God had promised, and God tells them they are not going in. In fact, He tells them that they must go back into the desert and stay there until everyone over the age of twenty has died. If you’re like me, you’re thinking, “No way!” Way!

  A PROMINENT MESSAGE IN GOD’S WORD

  That is such a radical move, isn’t it? To kill off an entire generation of Your children. Go figure. Actually, I did. I was so rocked by this move on God’s part that I have spent a lot of time examining the precise reason that God would make such a decision. God never gets angry without a good reason. He doesn’t just “lose it” and then wonder what happened. So there must be a very important lesson that such a radical move was intended to teach. Apparently the other writers of Scripture thought so, because almost every one of them refers to this incident either directly or indirectly.

  This tragic event is referred to over and over in the Psalms (e.g., Psalm 95:8–11), in the Prophets, the Gospels, the Epistles (e.g., 1 Corinthians 10:5; Hebrews 3:17). Three separate times it’s referred to in the book of Hebrews (3:7–11, 15–18; 4:1–3). Bottom line: It’s the Old Testament event that everyone was talking about. All of God’s people all the way through the writing of Scripture were thinking about these wilderness wanderings and the subsequent death of a whole generation of God’s children. This is a message that was meant to be emphasized, but for some reason it has been mostly overlooked here in the last one hundred years. If you’re like me, you’re ready to ask . . .

  OK, OK...why the big deal about wilderness wanderings?

  If you want to know exactly why God killed off a whole generation of His children, you don’t have to search very far; just open a Bible and check out Numbers 13–14.

  Numbers 13 records the expedition of twelve spies sent by God and Moses into the Promised Land. They were to bring back a report so the people would have the faith to go up and conquer the land. But ten came back full of fear and started whining about the armies, the giants, and the obstacles they would face across the Jordan River. Two of the twelve, however, submitted a minority report (Numbers 13:30; 14:6–9), declaring, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey” (14:7–9).

  Joshua and Caleb came back with the report of faith and confidence.

  How did the people respond to this faith report? According to verse 10, “But all the congregation said to stone them.” Don’t miss the attitude here: No faith. Wrong attitude. “Stone them with stones,” the people said. In response, the armiesgry God revealed Himself “to all the sons of Israel” and then said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they” (verses 11–12). That’s when Moses pleaded with God not to wipe them out even for His own reputation. And God relented.

  But God was still upset with the people’s wicked attitude. Catch this: “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me. Say to them, “As I live,” says the Lord, “just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you.”’” And then God amplified: “Your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me” (verses 26–29). Paraphrased, that means, “All the grumblers—they’re going down!”

  His pronouncement spared only the God-fearing spies, Caleb and Joshua: “Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun” (verse 30). In essence, God said to the two faithful spies, “You’re going in; everyone else is gonna die in the wilderness.”

  PAYING THE PRICE FOR ATTITUDES

  The Lord then told the rebellious people “Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected” (verse 31). God was saying, “You said I couldn’t take care of them. You feared they were going to die. They’re not going to die; you’r e going to die.” Then He added, “But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness” (verses 32–33). What an awful picture! How long would the people wander outside the Promised Land? “According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days . . . ”

  (verse 34). So they wandered forty years—one for every day. Every faithless day. Every grumbling, complaining, critical-attitude day. “For every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition” (verse 34).

  God was sending a message. He was saying, in effect, “I want you to know how I feel about this!” Verse 35 records His words: “I, the Lord, have spoken, surely this I will do.”

  You say, “But God is a God of grace and compassion and loving-kindness. What would push Him to such extremes?” Well, you would think that there must have been sexual impurity. No mention of that. There must have been real serious alcohol abuse or maybe a sudden rash of divorces or idolatry. Or were they abusing their children or some other gross sin to have God react like this? Nope!

  THE PROBLEM WAS ...

  The problem was the people’s “murmurings,” as the old King James Version translates it (Numbers 14:27). The original word is actually an example of a universal language habit. Perhaps you remember from your high school English class the poetry term onomatopoeia . That’s when a word sounds like what it is: drip , drip , drip ; or swoosh , or yawn . Murmuring ; that’s what God hears. “Murmurmurwhazahazahassenmurmur. . .” You almost feel like you’re doing it when you’re saying it! “Murmur, murmur, murmur.” Well, if you would forgive the modern parlance, it makes God crazy! God absolutely hates that contrary, doubtful, rebellious attitude. He despises it. And He simply will not tolerate it.

  “But,” you say, “there are a lot of bad attitudes. I mean, I can think of a lot of bad attitudes that I have. Which attitudes are the attitudes that constitute this murmuring?” By carefully studying the events that surround Numbers 14, we will discover five specific stories or events that illustrate the attitudes that make up murmuring.

  WHERE WE ARE GOING

  It’s no different today. God hasn’t changed what He does about murmuring. He judges it. So if we decide to live like the Israelites did, then God will treat us like He treated them. Or if we choose murmuring as our lifestyle, then back to the wilderness we go. But you say, “There is no wilderness around me.” You’re right; God doesn’t thrust us into a physical wilderness anymore, but He does cause our lives to become like a wilderness—a desolate, dry place not unlike a barren desert. Bad attitudes are what make life a dry, hard, joyless, parched experience.

  Do you ever feel like that? Like your life is lacking the kind of joy and fulfillment that you desire? That you’re missing the kind of abundant life that God’s Word promises? If you do, then you have come to the right place, because the theme of this book is: Those who choose murmuring as their lifestyle will spend their lifetimes in the wilderness!

  Five Pairs of Attitudes

  Identifying wrong attitudes is only half the job; we have to replace those attitudes with the attitudes God has designed for Promised Land living. The ten chapters of this book are broken down into pairs of attitudes. Each pair begin
s with the negative attitude that must be put off. The next chapter then goes to the New Testament and presents the positive, life-giving attitude that has to be put on to replace the negative wilderness one. So, for example, chapter 1, “Replace a Complaining Attitude . . .”, will be followed by chapter 2, “. . . With a Thankful Attitude.” This will be a healthy yet aggressive process of personal change. Identify the bad attitude—put it off; identify the good attitude—put it on! Off with the bad; on with the good. Out with five bad attitudes; in with five good attitudes.

  “But, hey, that was then!”

  You say, “C’mon. What does this have to do with me? This happened more than three thousand years ago. You don’t mean to tell me that God still feels the same way as He felt about their bad attitudes back then.” Do! I do mean to tell you that God feels the same way about our bad attitudes today.

  In fact, the apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers [he’s talking about the nation of Israel] were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food” (1 Corinthians 10:1–3). He goes on to describe the application. Verse 6, “Now these things [everything in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy] happened as examples for us . . .” Why did these things all happen? Why did God send them back into the wilderness? Here’s your answer: “These things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.” This truth is so important that Paul repeated it in verse 11: “Now all these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction.” Verse 7 continues, “D toe idolaters.” “Nor let us act immorally . . .” (verse 8). “Nor let us try the Lord . . .” (verse 9). “Nor grumble, as some of them did” (verse 10). Ding —as in, “you today in the year 20??. Don’t get a bad attitude like they did back in the wilderness, or you’re going to be joining them.”

  You may think, No way! God would not do that. Wanna bet? Read verse 11, “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction” (italics added). The reason behind God’s action in Numbers was to teach us! The reason these events are recorded in Scripture is for you and me in the twenty-first century. These were written for our instruction, especially; verse 11 concludes, for those “upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” And when is the “ends of the ages”? I believe . . .

  This is now!

  I believe we may be living in the last days. Most students of Scripture agree that every sign indicates that the return of Christ and the “ends of the ages,” might be very near. All the more reason then that we should embrace God’s dealings with the children of Israel as directly intended for us. For our attitudes. To get us out of the place where life is like a wilderness. To leave behind wilderness attitudes and embrace Promised Land attitudes.

  READY FOR TAKEOFF

  I know it has taken longer than normal for you to be ready to head into the content of this book. But we have built a great launchpad.

  -- You have decided that you believe attitudes are critically important for your life.

  -- You understand that attitudes are very important to God.

  -- You understand that there are serious “wilderness” consequences to wrong attitudes.

  -- You have decided that you want your attitudes to change.

  -- You have embraced the idea that you can’t change your attitudes without God’s help.

  -- You are willing to study God’s Word to learn which attitudes need to change and how to begin.

  Great job! Thanks for taking time to prepare for personal transformation. Your willingness to take that time has you ready for launching into an adventure of life change. Before we begin, let’s take a moment and together ask the Lord to prepare us for change.

  Look Up

  Lord, thank You for the powerful message that You have preserved more than three thousand years. Thank You for loving me enough to seek me and pursue what is best for my life. As best I know how, I submit all my attitudes to You in this moment and pray that You will begin the process of transformation in me. I want the landscape of my life to change. I want to experience the unhindered joy and blessing that You have promised to those who will leave wilderness attitudes behind and move into the promised land of attitudes that please You.

  Change my attitudes for Your own pleasure, and use the truths in this book, which come from Your Book, to do it, I pray. Do that work in me, oh, God, and begin today.

  In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!

  Chapter 1:

  REPLACE A COMPLAINING ATTITUDE . . .

  NUMBERS 11:1–3

  SAY IT IN A SENTENCE:

  Complaining is an attitude choice that if left unchecked will wither my capacity to experience joy and geniune thankfulness.

  I hope you aren’t one of those people who starts reading the first chapter of a book without reading the introduction, because if you are, things are going to get messed up really bad. In my writing, the introduction is far more than a “Hi, how are ya?”; it’s the foundation for all the life-transforming truth to follow. If the foundation is strong, we can build some pretty phenomenal life-changing truth together. If it isn’t . . . well, I think you get the picture. So circle back to the introduction if you need to, and I’ll wait right here for you...

  Welcome back. Now that everyone has read the introduction, we know where we are going and how we intend to get there.

  Are you upset that I asked you to circle back and read the introduction? Did you complain about that invasion of your freedom, thinking, “I should be able to read as I please?” If not, you are in the minority, because we all complain far more than we like to admit. Wilderness attitude number one is complaining. When we express resentment over circumstances that are beyond our control and about which we are doing nothing, we are complaining. God hears it, hates it, and pushes everyone who persists in it toward the wilderness. Remember that those who choose complaining as their lifestyle will spend their lifetime in the wilderness.

  Have you ever wondered why complaining is such a battle when we all agree that complaining changes nothing? The reason is that complaining satisfies our sinful natures. Complaining releases negative emotional energy in a way that provides momentary relief from a situation or circumstance that may be frustrating to us. That is why we find it so hard to resist.

  Let me be the first to say that in certain situations I really like complaining. In fact, I like it so much that I would never consider eliminating my complaining were it not for what I have learned about how destructive it really is. What we desperately need to learn is how God judges our complaining with emotional fallout that makes our lives like “a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). Remember the theme of this book:

  “Those who choose murmuring as their lifestyle will spend their lifetimes in the wilderness.”

  That is certainly true in the area of complaining. If you find it hard to believe that God would “make such a big deal” about your complaining, take a moment and come with me to an often-neglected passage in God’s Word, Numbers 11:1–3. Note carefully Moses’ “journal entry” from one day in the wilderness with his people: “Now the people became like those who complain . . . and when the Lord heard it, His

  anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp” (Numbers 11:1).

  So here’s this group of people standing somewhere on the edge of their makeshift city, and they are whining and grumbling about something. Maybe it was Moses’ leadership style, or maybe it was the food, or the weather, or a very draining, difficult person. Whatever the subject matter, it was the final straw for God, and He sent fire among the whole group. If that doesn’t tell you how God feels about complaining, nothing will. Now before you try to dismiss that as “Old Testament,” review 1 Corinthians 10:11, which we covered in the introduction. (You d
id read that, didn’t you?) Remember that what happened to the Israelites was intended by an almighty, unchanging God as an example for us; so let’s make sure we don’t miss it!

  Looking a little closer at Numbers 11:1, it’s hard to miss the fact that we choose our attitudes. That’s a short sentence and you might be speed-reading, so let me say it again:

  We choose our attitudes!

  Oh, yes, we do! They don’t choose us; we choose them. You should see the looks I get when I teach this truth publicly. People get all uptight and angry looking, like they’re going to storm the platform, and I understand why. Nobody wants to be told “Your attitude problem is in the mirror”;but it is. Until we embrace as fact the idea that we choose our attitudes, we will never be able to choose differently, and life will always be a like a wilderness.

  Notice what Numbers 11:1 says: the people ! They couldn’t point the finger anywhere but at themselves. Wouldn’t that be great if we could say, “Well, it’s my mom’s attitude I’ve got,” or “It’s my dad’s fault I’m this way.” “It’s my boss.” “It’s my neighbor.” “It’s my circumstances.” Sound familiar? Back to God’s Word: “The people become like those who complain.” Why did they become like that? Because they had to? Because someone forced them, because of the way they were brought up? No; they chose. They had good reasons not to complain; they had more than enough reasons to be thankful. Instead, they chose the attitude of complaining.

  God’s final judgment on their attitudes clearly held them accountable for their choosing. Later twelve spies went into the land; twelve spies came back. Two spies chose God and faith and a good attitude— and they got the Promised Land. Ten spies chose self and doubt and a bad attitude—they got the wilderness. The people listened to the majority report and the minority report, and then they chose. They voted with their attitude—and they got the wilderness. We choose our attitudes.