Progress
in our journey with God is made whenever we trust and rely on Him in the
difficult moments of life. Instead of whining and murmuring over the tough
circumstances that we encounter, there is always this better option. We need to
trust God and know that He has no ill intention for us. He wants to work out
all things in our life to bring about His best for us. Philippians 4:6 gives us
a key to overcoming every anxiety that we may encounter in our progress with
God. It tells us to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” And
our Lord will use every moment we encounter to teach us a precious lesson on
resting in Him.
God’s
purpose of leading the people of Israel through the wilderness journey was to
sanctify them. It was to test their obedience. And being obedient to God help
to remove the slave mentality they had adopted while in the bondage of Pharaoh.
In much the same way, every tough circumstance we encounter in life is God’s
sanctifying work in us. He seeks to remove the fretting we so often engage in when
we encounter a problem. If we learn to bring all our difficulties to Him in
prayer, we begin to rest in the comfort of His loving presence. We begin to
take steps of obedience as He shows us what we need to do. In obedience we
build trust. In trust, we gain confidence. In confidence, we develop character
and character gives us hope and hope will not fail us.
Every
privilege comes with responsibility. The privilege of knowing God and
experiencing His goodness and grace comes with the responsibility of being
obedient to Him. The situation at Marah was God’s teaching moment. After
they had drunk of the bitter water turned sweet, God seized the moment and
said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your
God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments,
and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I
have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.” Here God
was making a promise to them to help them stay obedient to His command.
Obedience is a demonstration of trust. It is always easier to act impulsively
in the flesh than to rest in the Lord and wait upon Him, seeking a solution
from Him. But when we wait upon the Lord and seek to keep His Word, we are
keeping faith with Him. And in so doing we reap the benefits of the trust. It
brings perfect peace of mind and its inherent consequence is the freedom from
worrying. It also sets the condition for healing to take place.
In
the last verses of Exodus 15, we see God bringing the children of Israel to
Elim. It was an oasis. We learn that here there were twelve springs and seventy
palm trees. It was here that they camped near the water. It was a place of
abundance. Twelve springs, one for each of the 12 tribes and 70 palm trees, one
for each elder of Israel. Obedience was what God wanted to teach the Israelites
in the bitter water of Marah. At Elim, we see another aspect of God’s goodness.
It is found in His abundant provision. God will never short-change us. We
don’t really need many things to survive, we only need a provider. God promises
to be our provider. His name is Jehovah Jireh, our provider. Remember in Christ
we have received grace upon grace, an overflowing grace. God wants us to
flourish in Him. And this can be found at the fountain of His everlasting
grace. May our prayer always be: Come O Lord and overflow us with your love. As
we bring our hearts before You like vessels to your ever-flowing stream.” Come,
O Lord and overflow us with your grace!
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