Moments With God

Exodus 15:27-17:7

Praise the Lord God that He is the One who promises to always be with us, as we walk through the wilderness of this life’s experiences. Praise the Lord that He stretches our faith and helps us to grow through the trials of this life. Praise the Lord God that He also, however, provides times of spiritual and physical refreshment in the wilderness of this life, so that we do not become too discouraged.

The Israelites, God’s Old Testament people, had gone through a number of trials and frightening experiences. (Exodus 1-14) God was stretching their faith, and He was helping their faith to grow through these experiences. God was now leading His people through the wilderness to the new land that the Lord had promised them, and God’s people of old would face even more difficult circumstances on their way to that promised land. In the midst of this wilderness experience, however, God provided for the Israelites a time of spiritual and physical refreshment at a place called Elim. When the Israelites came to Elim "there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water." (Exodus 15:27) The Lord God also provides spiritual and physical "Elims" for us, His people today; as we walk through the wilderness of this life towards our home in eternity. The Lord knows when we need times of spiritual revival and physical rejuvenation, and He provides these times for us. The Lord is our wonderful Shepherd who makes us "lie down in green pastures" and who leads us "besides quiet waters" (Psalm 23:2a), so that we can again go out and face life’s challenges in His strength.

The Israelites could not stay at Elim forever, however. They had to move on from Elim through the wilderness towards the new land God had promised them, and along the way they would face new challenges. As believers today we must also walk through this life’s wilderness on our way to eternity. The wilderness of this life may be difficult, but the Lord will be with us. Hence, we can be content in the wilderness of this life and filled with the Lord’s joy.

In the wilderness the Israelites had to leave behind what they had been comfortable with and familiar with in Egypt. God wanted them to not crave the things of Egypt but to crave only Himself, the Lord God. They further had to learn dependence on the Lord, as they faced new and unfamiliar experiences. God also wants to teach us, His children today, dependence on Him. In addition to this the Lord wants us to love and crave Him above anything or anyone on this temporal earth. The Lord wants us to make Him first in our lives, and He wants us to have an eternal perspective.

God always provided for His Old Testament people even when they "put the Lord to the test" (Exodus 17:2b) by their complaining and lack of faith. The Lord daily provided manna (bread from heaven) for the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness. (Exodus 16) The Lord also provided water for them. (Exodus 15:22-27 and Exodus 17:1-7) So the Lord God also provides for our physical and spiritual needs. Hence, as we travel through the wilderness of this life; let us do it with joy having our eyes focused on the Lord. Let us also have our spiritual eyes open so that we can see the blessings that the Lord provides for us along the way. Let us further avail ourselves of the spiritual manna and the spiritual water of His Holy Word, the Bible.

When the Lord God provided manna in the wilderness for the Israelites God commanded them to take some of the manna "and keep it for the generations to come," (Exodus16:32) so that they could always remember what God had done for them in the wilderness. May we also never forget all the past blessings of the Lord’s protection and provision for us. This will encourage us on our future spiritual walk through this life and to eternity.