Moments With God

Exodus 15:22-27

As a child I remember with fondness the Bible stories my mother used to read to my siblings and me about the Old Testament and New Testament saints. I often was taken aback by the constant complaining that the Israelites, God’s Old Testament people, did while traveling though the wilderness. God showed His faithfulness to them again and again. In spite of this the Israelites repeatedly reacted with panic and a grumbling attitude whenever they faced a new crisis. Are we as believers today any different than the Israelites of old? Do we react with panic or praise when a new crisis occurs in our lives? Do we trust our Lord during these times of trial, or do we test the Lord God’s patience by grumbling and complaining.

The Israelites had just seen God miraculously free them from slavery in Egypt. They also had just witnessed an awesome display of God’s deliverance, protection, and faithfulness at the Red Sea, and as a result they had sung songs of praise to the Lord for this victory and deliverance in their lives. (Exodus 14-15) Now God led them into the desert where for three days they traveled without finding water. Finally they came to a place called Marah where they found water. They were not able to drink this water, however, because it was bitter. So the Israelites began to grumble to Moses, their leader, saying, "What are we to drink?" (Exodus 15:24) The Israelites were not calling on the Lord God and asking for His help, as they should have done. Instead they were complaining to Moses. The Israelites were forgetting how faithful God had been to them in the very recent past. They were forgetting all about the Lord’s miraculous protection of them in just the last few weeks. Further they were not applying to their daily lives the trust for the Lord God that they had just affirmed and sung about in their worship of God in Exodus 15:1-21. What about you and I as believers today? Does our day to day trust in the Lord match our testimony of trust in our times of worship? When we face a new trial in our lives do we trust the Lord and rest our anxieties with the Lord, or do we resort to panic and complaining about the difficult situation in which we find ourselves?

In spite of the Israelite people’s complaining the Lord God provided for their needs. When Moses cried out to God in prayer the Lord provided water. The Lord told Moses to throw a piece of wood into the water, and the water became sweet and good for drinking. At this point the Lord told the Israelites that if they trusted and obeyed Him He would bless them. (Exodus 15:26) Repeatedly the Israelites would fail this test, however. They would later complain and show lack of trust in the Lord when there was no apparent food in the desert. (Exodus 16) In a still later incident the Israelites would complain and show lack of trust in the Lord when once again there was a scarcity of water. (Exodus 17) In every situation the Lord provided for their needs in spite of their complaining and weakness of faith.

We also can trust that the Lord will provide for all of our needs. Even when our faith is weak, the Lord is faithful. Let us be very diligent to rest our trust in the Lord, as we face each new struggle and crisis. Let us not grumble and complain at such times. Grumbling and complaining about our situations is really grumbling against the Lord. (Exodus 16:8b ) Grumbling and complaining is really us questioning the wisdom of the Lord God of the universe and the Lord God of our lives. Who are we to question the Lord? In Job 38:2 the Lord God says, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?" Instead of grumbling and complaining against the Lord in difficult situations, let us instead trust and obey Him. Instead of grumbling and complaining and asking, "Why, Lord?;" let us embrace the Lord and His comfort in the difficult situations we face in life. Let us use these difficult times as opportunities to praise and bring honor to the Lord’s name. May this be our deepest desire.