Exodus 15: 22-25 - So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea;
then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the
wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could
not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was
called Marah. And the people complained against Moses,
saying, “What shall we drink?” So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When
he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.
As
they left the area of the Red sea and traveled toward the promised land…water
was hard to find. They had been traveling three days…and found water at Marah…but
it was too bitter to drink. They
complained and Moses prayed….and God led Moses to a tree that would turn the
bitter water sweet if it was thrown into the bitter water.
It
began a long series of situations that God used to teach and train his people
to depend on him instead of the world around them. They had seen his power and
glory….in ways that no man had ever seen before…yet they doubted on a
continuing basis that God could provide for their daily needs. It had only been
three days since they had worshiped and praised God in a song so great …all of
its words were recorded….but now they seemed hopeless…defeated by the simple
lack of water.
How
quickly our heart lets go of the full feeling we have when God is blessing us
with good things…when he allows us to experience a time of hardship or
sorrow. It is the selfish flesh side
that wants life to be a breeze….easy…smooth sailing from one season to the
next. But God knows that these easy
times of life don’t teach us new things about how to depend on him. They trick us into thinking that we can exist
without his help.
God
knows what we need before we discover it ourselves. He is constantly working a plan that gives us
what we need…while he teaches us to depend completely on him. I admit that it
is very hard to do…I resemble these complaining Israelites so many times. I
needed the reminder that I only need to cry out to God to help me.
My
help might not come in the simplest form that my finite brain thinks of…it will
come in the form of a lesson. God did
not hand the Israelites a cup of pure water…Moses had to take a tree and throw
it in the bitter water. God wanted them to see his power was not limited to the
mighty works they had seen in Egypt and at the Red Sea. God’s bag of miracles is bottomless….always
ready to provide for the simplest of needs they had.
Father…thank
you for the reminder that you know how to provide for my needs. Forgive me for the times that I let life
trick me into whining and complaining about the things I think are wrong in my
life. Help me to accept your teaching moments
when I cry out to you for help…so I can learn to depend on you completely and
trust that you always have my best interest in mind. Amen.
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