There is a trend among those in the church today which says: "Because God gave me this desire, I should pursue it." Or, it is sometimes phrased like this: "God wouldn't give me this (insert thing here) if He didn’t want me to enjoy it". We use this faulty line of reasoning to justify a whole host of things we would do better to avoid. Just because our flesh wants a thing, or the circumstance of our lives brings a thing to us in NO way justifies the thing itself. We fall into the sin of Israel and risk their punishment with this thinking. It is innocuous enough at first, small pleasures that are hard to oppose, or easy to defend. But they will quickly grow into great evil, for our flesh is never satisfied; like the leech it always cries "More, MORE!" Left unchecked, the little rebellion we think we can manage, will ALWAYS grow into the monster we cannot control. The root of our sin lies in the motive of our action and the core of our desire. When Israel grumbled for meat, they denied that which God had provided for them. They doubted what God had and could do for them. But God had given them the very bread of Heaven, He had given them Christ in type, a promise of His absolute provision for them regardless of what they could see and understand, and they rejected it. In Numbers 21.5 they state boldly "our soul LOATHES this worthless bread". This is where we find ourselves; here is where the married man despises the wife of his youth and pursues another who is more to his temporary lusts; here is where the Christian woman engages her heart to a worldling because she likes him, regardless of what God says; here is where we lie, cheat and steal to fulfill the desires of our flesh… and in the end God may allow the sin in order to teach us to trust; He may allow our folly in order to chastise us… He may allow us to wander into darkness, so that we know that HE alone is our hope, our light, our supply and that His ways are the only acceptable ways. He gave them meat, and destroyed them with it still in their teeth… and we foolishly presume that we can twist truth to satisfy our wants! It is so much better and so much safer for us to shape our wants and understanding according to Scripture rather than allowing our wants to shape our understanding of God and His truth. Beloved, rest in God alone. Obey His word, and trust that His will and His way is always best!