Dear Family,
Today is Monday, April 20, 2020; and, it is Day 9, and Day 2 of Week 2 in our Counting toward Pentecost.
May God grant us all eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to receive what He wants to give us. God tells us through the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 that what happened to the ancient Israelites was for our example and warning.
1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
During this second week of Counting toward Pentecost, the ancient Israelites encountered a rough wilderness terrain that remains basically unchanged even today. They walked on pebbly ground bounded by limestone hills along the way from the Red Sea to Marah, possibly modern day Hawwarah. And, in the distance, they saw the wall, or the shur of mountains.
Israel’s three days of walking and finding no water ended at the pool of Marah, or bitterness; likely because of the nitre in the local soil. And, so the people murmured. God miraculously intervened once again as He directed Moses to throw a special tree into the pool, and the waters were made sweet.
Exodus 15:25 And he [Moses] cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.
What lesson is there for us in this situation? How was God proving the Israelites? What was the statute and the ordinance made for them?
One lesson that seems obvious to us now as we look back is that God always intended to provide and protect these people He had just delivered. Yet, how easily we can all lack vision, lack faith, lose heart, be discouraged, and begin to murmur against God and the human leadership He provides. Such feelings and behaviors are part of our human flesh. Our eyes need to be upon God, not ourselves and physical conditions. God led Israel to the worst tasting water around and showed them that He could make even that taste sweet!
It is only through God’s Holy Spirit that we can approach any challenging situation and please Him by reacting in a righteous manner. God always intends to take care of us. We are required to believe it! And, we must constantly exercise faith! God can and will turn any bitter situation sweet!
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
God wants to be trusted! He deserves to be trusted! He requires that we trust Him! Being constant in prayer to God, asking Him to supply our every need, is one very important aspect of letting God know that we know (have faith, believe) He is worthy to be trusted!
May God bless us so that we are all truly rich in faith toward God!
Ben Faulkner
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