Healing Begins When We Look Up
Do not let bitterness deter you from what God is planning to do with you. I know that sounds like a strange way to begin, but bitterness blinds us faster than anything else. I remember when I lost my job—not just the inconvenience of it, but the emotional weight that sits on your chest when days turn into weeks and weeks into months. The frustration of waking up with no purpose, the embarrassment when people ask, “Any updates?” and you have nothing to say. The responsibility of family lingering over your head. The silent fear of “What if nothing changes?” I would go for interviews that seemed promising, only for everything to stall at the last moment. And with every closed door, a little more of me broke on the inside. I still remember the day I finally knelt down letting go of my ego and pride, lifted my hands, looked up and said, “God, I cannot do this anymore. Only You can make things happen.” That moment changed everything. A new job opened up, and even a small entrepreneurial opportunity began to grow. When hearts turn back to God, paths begin to shift.
I saw something similar while reading Numbers 21. Israel had just made a vow to God and won a battle, but almost immediately they fell into impatience and frustration. They complained again—no water, no food, wishing they were back in Egypt. And God sent fiery serpents among them, and many died. This shows that God deals with His own people the same way He deals with the nations—He is impartial and holy. His intention is never to destroy, but to correct and restore.
When the people confessed their sin and begged God to take the serpents away, God did something unexpected. He didn’t remove the serpents. Instead, He told Moses to make a bronze serpent, lift it on a pole, and whoever looked at it would live. The very image of what hurt them became the place of healing. Jesus later says in John 3 that just as Moses lifted the serpent, He too must be lifted up so that everyone who looks to Him will have life. The presence of sin remains in the world, but when we look to Christ, we rise above it.
But the part that struck me the most was this: the people wanted the serpents gone, but God gave them a way to live above what was biting them. They still lived with serpents around them, yet they lived. And only then does the Scripture say, “The children of Israel moved on.” Their hearts shifted, and their path shifted with them.
Look at the places they traveled next: Oboth (refreshment), Iye-Abarim (crossing the ruins), the Valley of Zered (the completion of 38 years and the birth of a new generation), and finally Beer—“the well”—where God Himself gives them water. And for the first time since the Red Sea, Israel sings again. From there, they defeat Sihon and Og. A complaining people became a conquering people the moment they looked up.
The bronze serpent in Numbers 21 was never meant to be the final answer. It was a picture pointing to Someone greater. Israel still lived in a world filled with serpents, but as long as they kept looking up, they lived above what was trying to destroy them. And that’s exactly what Christ does for us today. The presence of sin, pain, temptation, and disappointment may not disappear overnight. Maybe today the serpents in your life look like fear, frustration, anxiety, bitterness, or wounds that haven’t healed yet. Maybe you’ve been looking everywhere else for relief but haven’t looked to the One who can actually give it. The invitation of this passage is simple: Come back to Jesus. Lift up your eyes again. Look where life is found.
You may still feel the sting of what you’ve been through, but you don’t have to die from it. When you look to Him, you live. When your heart turns, your path turns. When your eyes rise, your life rises. Israel moved on only after they looked up — and so will you. Whatever moment of the day you are reading this, look up to Christ, and let Him lift you above everything that’s been holding you down.
Every prayer, share, and act of support is deeply appreciated.
