Many trials and testings have kept me busy treading the spiritual waters lately. However yesterday I had a huge "aaa-haaa" moment! Lately the children and I have been working our way thru Kay Arthur's Bible study on the names of God.Yesterday's lesson was wonderful yet again and very timely. But what I got out of it was not what Kay was talking about it, its what God showed me! We were to read in Exodus 15 where the people of Israel had just passed over/thru the Red Sea and seen God defeat the Egyptians. Three days later they are out of water and thristy. So they cry out to Moses, who in turns crys out to God. Lesson number one, when you have problems cry out to God in prayers!
They came up to the waters of Marah, which means bitterness. I guess it was a type of oasis in the desert with this bitter water there. Moses is busy asking God what to do as the people are really upset. Then God says, see this tree? Throw it in the water and the water will be sweet.
Several thoughts came to me from this passage. First is that Moses did NOT see the tree prior to God pointing it out. Many times the answers to our prayers are right there, but we don't see it! Pray and ask God to show you the answer He has for you, its probably as visable as Moses' tree! Sometimes the answer is not there yet, and God will show you that too. Who knows if the tree had been there all along or did God place it there suddenly? God also told Moses He could bring water from a rock if He wanted to, seems to me that God is saying I can provide and answer you using anything, anyone or any situation I so choose. So be open to God's leading and obey the voice of God.
Secondly, God says He was testing the people, to see if they would obey Him or not. Be brave and do what God shows you to do and then you will receive the sweetness of God's presence in your life too.When going thru trials and tests we have two choices to make. Either one can look and see God working in the trials and tests and experience the sweetness of God's presence in your life ,or you can decide to be bitter and mad at God for letting them happen. You choose one or the other, its up to you how it ends up. Will you end up feeling bitter,resentful and angry about the trials and testings you are experiencing? Or will you choose to follow God's plans and answers and experience His sweet presence in your life?
Lastly, God was leading them visable day and night, it was not a mistake that they came to Marah! As we follow God there are times we think, oh wow, I made a mistake, I thought I was following God, but now I must not be because look at this mess I'm in. Honestly I think if I've been praying and seeking God and problems come I need to remember, God did led me to this decision, to live my life like this. So the outcome, be it good or bad is also in God's hands! Usually it just looks "bad" for awhile, when I look back I can see God's plan at work, but in the heat of problems, trials and testings it can look like a mess.But here again we must trust God, lean on His understanding and not our own!
So no matter how it "feels" or looks right now, remember I followed God this far, and I will follow Him forever because I want to experience the sweetness of Marah in my own life! Look for your "tree" and be amazed at how God turns bitterness into the sweetness of His presence once again in your life today!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Very encouraging, thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt has been said that scripture is only read properly when it is read in the light of the resurrection. In the account of the waters of Marah, the Israelites had gone for three days without water, and when they finally came to the bitter waters which were turned from bitterness into sweetness by the tree.
ReplyDeleteThe deliverance from death by the wood of the tree after three days is such an obvious foreshadowing of Christ's saving passion, but it is amazing how often it is overlooked today.