Maths and Numbers

So I finished the Numbers essay, with 37 mins to spare! (despite the excellent encouragement of my fellow student David, to hand it in a few days early!) I think it must run in our family, because this week in our house there has been a fair bit of staying up late to finish something that is due tomorrow.
Before this, the last essay I had written was 17 years ago, on the chi square test and statistical significance (and, I think, something to do with cardiac nursing – maybe potassium in cells). Now, I don’t think I could write even a sentence on those things, but at the time I chose it because it combined what I had to do but disliked (an essay) with what I loved (maths) and I my area of work (nursing). This time I tried to do the same thing - imagine my disappointment when I sat down to write about the central theme of the book of Numbers, and realised that it wasn’t about maths at all! And now, my area of ‘work’ is still caring for the human heart, just not the ticking, pumping bit. As I studied the book of Numbers, I discovered that although it wasn’t about maths, it does tell us a lot about the human heart. I was struck again by the truth that our human hearts are all the same, not just the ticking, pumping bit, but our tendency not to be content, and not to trust that God is willing and able to do what he has promised (and often to wish he had promised something better, now!)
And that God is still the same, faithful to his people and promises and purposes, despite our unfaithfulness.
Last weekend I was looking at Esther in preparation for PY Winter camp in June (register here: www.pynsw.org.au). And the thing we see in the book of Esther is once again God’s faithfulness to his chosen people wherever they are and whatever they are doing. We see it in the way that he has ordered all of history for his good purposes, and by the way that he works in all the little details of our lives.Even in maths.