I have been blessed with the opportunity to sit under the teaching of Jack Carroll each Sunday morning at church. He is truly a teacher at heart and has an obvious passion for the Word of God. He researches and studies in preparation for leading us verse by verse through the Scripture and I come each time with a heart of anticipation. I am ready for the discoveries God leads him to present. This past Sunday was no exception.
We are working through Exodus with Moses leading the children of Israel out of captivity. They have just experienced the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. You would expect them to be in sheer awe of God...I mean, His very presence is travelling with them and they walked through walls of water...on DRY ground! WOW!!
However...
Exodus 15:22-25 (msg)
"Moses led Israel from the Red Sea on to the Wilderness of Shur. They traveled for three days through the wilderness without finding any water. They got to Marah, but they couldn't drink the water at Marah: it was bitter. That's why they called the place Marah (bitter). And the people complained to Moses, "So what are we supposed to drink?" So Moses cried out in prayer to God. God pointed him to a stick of wood. Moses threw it into the water and the water turned sweet."
Three days without water...I just can't imagine. I keep a cup of water at my desk and drink on it all day as I refill it to my heart's content. Perhaps there is some justification in their complaining. Wandering in the desert for 3 days without water with their families, which include small children. You know toddlers...they tend to cry if they don't get what they want. 5 year old girls do, too...or maybe just my 5 year old girl! I cannot imagine being in the wilderness with her for 3 days without water...ugly!
When they finally arrive at water; it is bitter, undrinkable. I wonder if perhaps it was a picture of their hearts. There are times in Exodus where Israel begged to go back to Egypt because they had the basic necessities. They weren't really living but they weren't miserable either. They had become content in their bondage and perhaps they had become bitter towards Moses or even God for bringing them to the wilderness. And they complained.
Complaining always brings about the desired result, right? NOT!! In my home, complaining or crying is a guarantee that the opposite will occur. God didn't give in to their complaints either. Fortunately for them, Moses had a different solution.
He prayed. God answered. He pointed him to a stick of wood...to a cross.
Moses tossed the wood into the water and it became sweet. Cross + bitterness = sweetness
I like that equation. I love that the blood of Jesus doesn't just cover my sins; it changes my heart. The blood transforms my emotions that make Satan grin into the emotions that make God rejoice.
There have been many things in life that have caused me grief that I could remain bitter about. My mom receiving the ultimate healing from cancer as she is present with the Lord just months after our college spent 24 hours in prayer for one of our Deans and he was healed from his cancer. A trusted denominational leader that did not follow through on his word and we lost our house, our ministry position and our confidence and ended up feeling abandoned and isolated.
I'm stopping there because I don't want to be reminded of the past because God has led me in forgiveness and understanding. His ways are higher than mine and I trust Him! I choose to view the bitterness through the blood of Jesus and see His sweet mercies. When you feel the effects of bitterness in your soul, throw the cross right into the mix and watch and see His sweetness overtake you!
God's loyal love couldn't have run out, His merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over), He's all I've got left. Lamentations 3:22-24 (msg)
Thank you, Jack Carroll for teaching me.
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