Are God's arms cut off?

And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord's arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” – Numbers 11.21-23

Moses was looking at an impossible situation. God was sending them on their journey and promised to provide for them. No one os sure how many people had to be fed daily, but there were 600,000 men that we walking on foot. Chances are that there were 2-3 million men, women, and children on the journey.

How was God going to provide for that many people? Were there enough sheep and goats to feed them? Were there enough fish in the sea? What was God thinking? This was surely too much even for God. So Moses talked to God about it. And remember, Moses had no notion that it was going to take 40 years – he was only talking about a month of travel.

I can understand that. It is not always easy to see how we are going to get through difficult situations. Sometimes they seem impossible. Sometimes there does not seem to be any kind of human answer. There are a couple of situations in my life where I just can’t see how they are going to be sorted. Can God really take care of it?

God asks the question ‘has the Lord’s hand been shortened?’

We might ask it this way – ‘has God had His arms cut off?’

When I look down the road and see some things that I can’t figure out and wonder if God can REALLY do it I forget who He is. No one has cut off God’s hands. He is the same God who said ‘let there be light’ and who parted the Red Sea. Has something happened since then to cut off His power?

Of course not. He is still God and no one has cut off His arms. God went on to provide for Israel in the wilderness for forty years. He met every need.

And His arms are still not cut off today. He can take care of me – ‘now I will see’ if He will do what He says He will do. And He will.