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Dear All,

Our heavenly Father understands our disappointment, suffering, pain, fear and doubt. He is always there to encourage our hearts and help us understand that He’s sufficient for all of our needs. When I accepted this as an absolute truth in my life, I found that my worrying stopped. Charles Stanley

Grumbling

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
Exodus 17:1-3

The children of Israel were witnesses to the mighty hand of God throughout the plagues, their exodus from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea but that did not stop them from grumbling before the Lord.

 

Three days after crossing the Red Sea, they complained that the water at Marah was bitter and so Moses threw a tree into the waters to make it sweet. A couple of months later, they regretted leaving Egypt for want of meat and bread to fill their stomachs and so the Lord provided quail and manna for them from heaven. Now, as they camped at Rephidim, they complained again, accusing Moses of bringing them out of Egypt so that they would die of thirst. In all these circumstances, we see the manifest grace of God towards His children.

At Rephidim, the Lord did something significant when he asked Moses to take some of the elders to the rock at Horeb and to strike the rock with his rod. As Moses acted in faith and obedience, water poured forth from the rock and so, again, the Lord provided for the needs of His people.

 

The striking of the rock foretold the coming death of Jesus, our Rock and Saviour. As water came out of the rock to satisfy the people’s thirst, so would the living water from Jesus give eternal life through Him who was struck, beaten and nailed to the cross for our sins.
So be encouraged that even when we are wandering in the wilderness, feeling dry and thirsty, the Lord is with us. As we approach the Rock in faith and obedience, He will meet our every need; He is the source of the living water that gives life to our spirits.
Dear Lord,
I thank You for the patience and love that You show me every day. Thank You that You hear my cry, that You are my Rock, my Saviour who provides all that I need. Amen.

 

God bless you.
Your obedient servants in Christ,
Theo and Manju