The Cost of Being Suspicious

Deuteronomy 2:26-29; 32-33

When I worked at the prison, I was constantly having to look at people with suspicion. There was always a game or con being played. Almost everyone we dealt with was a criminal, including the staff. Working in that environment day in and day out led to me beginning to view everyone suspiciously. Needless to say, when you think everyone you encounter has ulterior motives, it creates problems. Such was the case for the king in our passage today.

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"And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, ‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot, just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD our God is giving us.’

Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. And the LORD our God delivered him over to us; so we defeated him, his sons, and all his people.

Deuteronomy 2:26–29; 32-33

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Moses made a simple request. All he wanted was for the Children of Israel to be able to walk the road through Sihon's kingdom. If they ate or drank anything along the way, they would pay for it. This seems normal to us today. We travel roads from state to state, and depending on where you live, even country to country. We also expect to pay for our food and drink. What we must remember is that this was a group of 2-3 million people. Imagine the entire population of Chicago walking through your town.

Sihon did not trust Moses. He thought they were up to something. It did not matter that the Children of Israel had marched though Moab and Edom without disturbing them (v. 29). He thought for sure they were here to destroy his kingdom. While that was exactly what happened, it was because he attacked them. Had he left them alone, and gave them permission to pass, they would have done so without violence.

Sihon's suspicion cost him and his people everything. Once he attacked the Children of Israel, they showed no mercy. Every living human was killed. The livestock was kept as spoils of war. While this was avoidable, his paranoia got the best of him. He actually created the problem that he hoped to prevent by attacking Israel.

When we view others suspiciously, we can do the very same thing. We may begin to treat someone differently because we feel that they do not like us. Our change in behavior may drive that person to not like us. We created the change, but we think that we perceived it. In the end, we suffer because of our own thoughts. Instead of looking down on others for what they might be doing, Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself". Instead of looking at others suspiciously and thinking the worst of them, we should esteem them or lift them up.

Father, so many times we create messes by how we think of others. While we may not be able to prevent thoughts from creeping into our minds, we can control how long we entertain them. As one man said, we may not be able to control the birds flying over our head, but we can prevent them from building a nest in our hair. Help us to only entertain pure thoughts that honor You.