And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
	Numbers 21:6
Why would it be here - only weeks away from their entering the Promised Land - that God would have poisonous serpents bite His people? Because if they’re not taught in the wilderness, they will be distraught in the Land of Promise. So too, God is willing to go to great extremes to get us to understand that if we’re not happy today, we’ll not be happy tomorrow regardless of what comes our way or where we might be. Happiness is an inside job. God allows His children to feel a lot of pain and even to die in order that they might see and understand that He is with them, that He is enough for them, that He will take care of them. If they don’t learn to quit their complaining here, they’ll not experience His presence even in the Land of Promise. How about you? Has it been a week of complaining? Have you heard yourself say, “This is hard right now, but as soon as I get the job or as soon as I retire, as soon as she marries me or as soon as my wife leaves me, as soon as we have kids or as soon as the kids move out, I’ll be happy”? If you’re not happy today, you’ll not be happy tomorrow unless you get to the root issue. We get so deceived about this. We think we’re going to be happy “just as soon as,” but “just as soon as” never comes.

This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Pillar By Day" by Pastor Jon. "A Pillar By Day" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the Old Testament books of Genesis through Deuteronomy.