God’s Grace in the Land Between

The Israelites were thirsty, really thirsty.  They had traveled three days and found no water, and then the water they found was bitter.  One can imagine the disappointment and possible frustration with Moses.  After all, they were out there because he had led them there.  Couldn’t they find some water after all?

Bitterness, psychologists tell us, is a smoldering resentment.  We are wronged, we feel angry and then we ruminate on the wrong.  We become bitter.  We think, “Someone must be to blame for my misery.”  In this case, Moses.  Fueling their complaint to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” is a frustration and growing bitterness.

 

The people were helpless in the face of the growing and real threat of dying of thirst in the wilderness.  Their situation went from bad to worse at Marah.  The people wondered, and then concluded, that there was nothing that could be done.  They had learned helplessness.

 

Life is filled with adverse conditions, including this pandemic, which leaves us feeling helpless and possibly hopeless.  What can be done?

 

Moses does something.  He cries out to God.  The people didn’t ask God for anything. God provides a branch to throw into the waters, a branch that possibly everyone had seen, including Moses.  Once thrown into the water, the branch becomes the means by which the water turns sweet.  The same waters that were once a source of bitterness and frustration, were now a source of refreshment and blessing.  Moses was able to do something...a small gesture with a common object, by God’s direction, to change the situation for the better.    

 

Next step: Ask God to empower you to help change a situation you are in from a bitter situation to a blessing to others.  

 

Lessons: Exodus 15:22-27

 

Watch: stlukecolumbus.com/ondemand

 

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