Scripture – “The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.””
Exodus 16:1-3 NIV
Observation – Through his power God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, allowed them to cross the Red Sea on dry ground and turned undrinkable water into pure water in the days just before this event. Even though they had been eyewitnesses to these incredible miracles they quickly panicked and fell into grumbling and despair every time things appeared hopeless.
Application – As we read this it seems impossible that they would turn on Moses and Aaron so fast and so often and believe that God doesn’t care about them. How are we any different? God has blessed us so abundantly but we fear he won’t provide and care for us in the future? Where does this come from? The reason God commands us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” is because when we lean on our own understanding it results in fear and anxiety, when we trust that God will take care of us, as he always has, we’ll experience hope and peace. We gravitate towards fear, it takes lots of time with God to live with faith and hope but it is absolutely worth the effort.
Prayer – Dear Jesus, there is a song that has this line, “I need you, oh how I need you, every hour I need you” I need you every hour Lord because you are the only one that can give me peace, you will be my confidence and will keep my foot from slipping. Amen.
What are you doing? Do it better 