God is definitely NOT a T-Rex!

24 Feb God is definitely NOT a T-Rex!

God is definitely NOT a T-Rex!

24 February 2026

Well…if that didn’t get your attention…maybe you’re still sleeping on this beautiful & warm Tuesday in February!

But that thought hit me this morning as I was reading Numbers 11. In my journey this year through the Old Testament…I’m in Numbers. God has used Moses to lead his people from slavery in Egypt toward the promise of freedom in relationship to God in the land God has chosen for them. God has outlined the statutes, ordinances & laws of the Covenant, & they built the traveling Tabernacle for worship according to God’s specific instructions. God’s power; the strength & length of his “arm” have been evident.

And yet…God’s people, & those traveling among them, are not satisfied. When water is in short supply, they complain & God provides. There is daily manna awaiting them when they wake each morning & God’s visible presence is never out of sight. But again they are not satisfied. The nature of human sin to always believe that somehow God is holding out on you…that his best is given to anyone but you…that you could be doing better if God would follow your instructions.

So the complaints flow…The traveling Israelites start reminiscing about the food of Egypt & compared to the daily manna, for which they do not have to labour, Egypt wins. The slavery & suffering & slaughter of their own children are now forgotten, & the only memory is of “better food.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word to you comes to pass!” – Number 11:23 The literal translation of those underlined words is something like “Is the Lord’s arm too short?”

And for some reason I thought of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. T-Rex is always the big scary dinosaur in the dinosaur movies. The museum displays always feature them as the apex predator…bigger, stronger, meaner, & hungrier than all the other dinosaurs. Even the Godzilla movies patterned their animal after T-Rex. But if you look at the pictures & museum reconstructions of what T-Rex was supposed to look like…It’s got little bitty arms. Everything else about it screams HUGE! But the arms!…like little twigs off a stunted gum tree. King of the dinosaurs couldn’t even scratch his own ears! Did they have ears? Anyway…you get the point.

So God asks the great question…“After all this, do you think I can’t provide exactly what you need exactly when you need it in abundance far greater than your need?” Is my arm too short? Have I suddenly grown weak & ineffective? Am I now, not able to provide for you? But more importantly…the next sentence comes only at full volume: Now you will see whether or not my word to you comes to pass! God has promised to care for them. They have his word & have seen his power on display. At no point has God’s word failed & yet, they’re challenging his faithfulness.

What a lesson we’ve learned as well. God, through your generous faithfulness, has proved faithful during our momentary financial shortfall. God’s arm was abundantly long & strong and through you he met our need with abundance. Now we’ve seen him at work again! His word has proved true again! And moving into the future, we need to continue in our exceeding generous faithfulness in response to God’s. God is definitely NOT a T-Rex! Soon, the Israelite camp is flooded with quail…more than they can eat. It’s the lesson of faith without doubt, obedience without complaint, & faithfulness in the tough times. God is never slow to keep his promise or fails to provide for his children. Thank you for your faith, obedience & faithfulness in so many ways.

Here are more ways we’ll be working on that in the coming days…

1. Sunday 1^st March – We continue our Lent worship & teaching series: Closer to Jesus: From Justice to Mercy. Every time we pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us,” we’re asking Jesus to help us be more merciful as he has been toward us.
2. ALSO…Giving Beyond Ourselves this week for the Esencia Life Centre in Wagga. Our newest unexpected pregnancy helping organization that operates to value every life. Their local leader, Clare Enever, will be with us to share their story. As always…let’s be exceedingly generous & bless all those lives in Jesus’ Name.
3. We are well into Lent…so let me put this out there again & again & again so you can invite someone who might otherwise miss out…We’ve printed some handy flyers for you to give to your friends so they can have the details…or direct them to this part of our website!
   1. Maundy Thursday – 2^nd April @ 7:00 p.m.
   1. Good Friday – 3^rd April @ 9:00 a.m.
   1. Easter Sunday – 5^th April @ 10:00 a.m.
4. I mentioned that we have an opportunity to feed the UniChurch AFES group at their weekly worship & learning services. We now have that date: Tuesday – 31^st March. We’ll have some details how you can help out by Sunday. It’ll likely be either a casserole or salad or dessert…& the Steering Team & all who’d like to help serve will deliver our meal on the day. More details Sunday! — John