Almost There

You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.     Exodus 15:13 ESV  

This line was from a song that Moses composed.  You might think that this would be a song sung when the Israelites came into the Promised Land.  It was not.

This was the song of the people when they had just crossed the Red Sea.  They were on the edge of the wilderness, just beginning their journey.  I don’t suppose they realized at that point that they were heading into the wilderness.  All they knew was that in just a very short time, they had seen the Lord miraculously deliver them from slavery in Egypt and  - no less miraculously – they had seen the Red Sea split and they had walked through on dry ground and been delivered from the Egyptians a second time.

They had a great celebration, singing, dancing and praising God!  This was a people who obviously understood what a great God they had!

Or, maybe not.

After this big party, Moses sets out to lead the people to the land of abundance the Lord has promised them.  Three days into the journey, they began to grumble.   Three days!  All it took to move the children of Israel from praise to complaint was three days and some bitter water.

We look at this and roll our eyes, berating the people for their lack of faith.  We think that they should have remembered the miracles they’d just witnessed, and simply trusted God.  We are certain that had we been in their sandals, that’s what we would have done.  We would have patiently trusted in the God who split the sea!

But probably not.

We tend to be so like the children of Israel – the freed captives.

We seem to have this inner sense of entitlement that thinks that life should be easy.  Easier, at least.

Actually, from the beginning, God wanted a different life for us.  He did not want us to be “entitled.”  God designed us for contentment. 

In Eden, God’s intent was that Adam and Eve would tend the garden, and enjoy its produce as they rested in fellowship with Him.  God never intended that they would be idle, but He did not want them to struggle.  He wanted them to enjoy life!

But, the enemy entered the picture, and contentment turned to entitlement, and sin.

Contentment understands, “God will provide all that I need.”

Entitlement, on the other hand, suggests, “God let you down.  He’s actually got more, but He’s selfish and hasn’t given it to you.”

We may not really say that with our words, but isn’t that actually what we’re saying with our faithlessness?  On some level, don’t we sometimes think that God is holding out on us?

The Israelites thought that.

They had seen God move in mighty ways, but three days without finding water led the people to doubt God.  Then at Marah they found water, but it was bad.  And so they grumbled.

God provided, again, and He made a way for the water to become good.

This was a teaching moment.  Exodus 15:25 says, “There the Lord… tested them.”   It was not by accident that the water was bitter.  It was a divine invitation to trust the goodness of God.

And even though the people initially failed the test, God still made them a promise.  He told the people that if they would simply follow after Him, listening to His voice and obeying His commandments, He would protect them from disease.  God offered them a simple path to health and healing.

And then He took them to Elim.  Twelve springs of good water and a lovely place to camp were waiting for them there.

God could have taken the people straight to Elim.  They could have bypassed Marah altogether.  But the Lord wanted them to understand His nature.  He wanted them to trust in what they knew – not just in what they saw.

I don’t know what struggle you’re facing today.  I’ll bet it’s not three days without actual water, but maybe you feel like you’re in a dry spell.  Maybe you’re face-to-face with a bitter circumstance, and you feel like God let you down.

Trust what you know to be true.  Your heavenly Father already has a plan to make the bitter water sweet.  Listen to His voice.  Obey His commandments. 

Follow Him.

You don’t realize it yet, but you’re almost to Elim!

 

…Just a thought…