When we put our faith and trust in God what happens to our hearts? A change. In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near to him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near to him. Numbers 16:4-5.

When we come near to God our perspective changes. God is in control.

In this Chapter, Korah, a Levite serving at the tabernacle, wanted what was not his – the priesthood. Dathan and Abiram, Reubanites; and 250 Israelite well-known community leaders came to Moses and opposed Moses’ leadership. v. 1-3. Moses told Korah to come the next day with his 250 followers carrying censors with burning coals so that the Lord would make clear who belongs to Him. Let God settle it. When Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, they refused to come before Moses and complained that Moses took them out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill them in the wilderness and did not give them their inheritance v. 8-15.

The people gathered the next day. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.” v. 23. I don’t know about you, but I wonder what everyone thought at that time, especially Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their families. Did they start to doubt the wisdom of what they were doing?

God doesn’t take rebellion lightly. The earth opened up and swallowed up Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their families and their tents and closed back again. Fire from the Lord consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. v. 31-35. Aaron’s son Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded and gathered the censers of the men who sinned, hammered them into sheets to overlay the altar as a sign to the people. v. 36-40.

It sadly didn’t stop there. The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said. v. 41. Were their hearts so hardened they couldn’t comprehend anything? Are our rebellious hearts any different? The very people they were falsely accusing, Moses and Aaron, rushed to intervene and stop the anger of the Lord against their rebellious hearts. 14,700 people died in the plague before Aaron, at Moses instructions, stood between the living and the dead with his censor to atone for them. v. 46-50.

Is that the end of these people who were destroyed because of their rebellion? For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. Lamentations 3:31-33.

When we put our faith and trust in God, what happens to our hearts? Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:22-24.

The Lord is our portion and He never forgets us and never stops loving us. He is in control. Can we remember? The Lord isn’t the One who brings affliction or grief to anyone. We do. It doesn’t need to be that way. Our hearts can change. Our hearts need to change. Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40. Why? Because of His promises from the very beginning to the very end. The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 3:3. Everlasting love…unfailing kindness….from whom have you ever received that? Take His hand and trust His love for you. Let His love fill you and guide you as you learn from Him what is truly important. Your walk with Him.