I was reading from a One Year Bible that I got for my birthday this morning and I was back in the wilderness with the Israelites. God really has something to show me through them, I suppose. I’ve went backwards from the edge of the promise land that has been the message at church and in my study time. This morning was Chapters 15-17. I was reading about all the fussing and complaining these people did in the wilderness, even after God provided for them over and over!
I mean, God parted the Red Sea so they could walk over on dry land and then had it to swallow up the Egyptians that were behind them in hot pursuit.
And…
He told Moses to throw a piece of wood into the bitter waters at the oasis of Marah so they would have fresh water. In doing so, it went from bitter to good drinking water.
And…
He rained down food in the form of manna in the morning and quail in the evening.
And…
He told Moses to strike the rock at Mount Sinai and water would come gushing out for the people to drink, and it did!
(Now, this wasn’t all God did for them, but this is just what I read this morning in a couple of chapters) Pretty impressive God if I do say so myself!
While doing all this, the people complained in between each provision and even disobeyed the instructions given to them by the Lord through Moses. It’s almost like they had forgotten what God had done from one provision to the next. I mean, how could they possibly forget all He provided and disobey His commands? It seems easy to read back and say to ourselves, “These people are crazy!” It was evident that God and His faithfulness was displayed to them and He kept His word. But, they just didn’t seem to get it…they were some hard-headed folks.
Now, let’s think about this in 2021. How many times has God provided for us? How many times has He given exactly what we needed at exactly the right time and showed up morning and night! He has been an oasis so many times when we felt our spirit was parched and thirsty from trials or circumstances of life. He’s been there to take the bitter moments and make them sweet to the taste.
And…
We still aren’t satisfied. We forget. We complain. We want more. We are some hard-headed folks, too. God has given us His Word and told us that through Him we can be satisfied. We can remember the promises He made to His people that were not broken. He has told us to not grumble and complain, but be thankful, because we may not always get what we want, but we will always have what we need!
Let us not be quick to forget the provisions of our God and trust Him with each step through the unknown.
