A Work in Progress….

Exodus 17:1 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. 

Change is hard. To leave a situation you understand, that you have figured out how to work within, only to encounter unknown trials, is difficult, and anger is a much easier emotion to deal with than fear. I’m honestly not surprised by the Israelites’ reactions here.

Exodus 17:2 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 Moses, his reaction is the one to watch. He takes his frustration to the Lord instead of turning it onto the Israelites. He turns to prayer and then puts God’s answer into practice. 

Exodus 17:3 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?”

Precious Savior, I can relate to so much in this passage–feelings of fear, irritation, uncertainty, anger. Like the Israelites, I tend to grumble when I feel that unsettling mix of emotions. Help me be more like Moses, bringing my frustrations and fear to You alone. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 17:4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 16:32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’ ”

My faith cannot sustain my children, but it does provide them a firm foundation. They certainly have a good idea of what the hubs and I believe, who Jesus is to us, but there will come a time when they have to question and assess and explore and figure out what they believe, who Jesus is to them. 

Exodus 16:33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

God, Jesus, His love and provision, mercy and grace is known to them but is not yet theirs. Our faith in Jesus can only take them so far. They have to make it their own. 

Exodus 16:34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the foundation of faith that parents provide for their children, for the God stories that we pass down so that they can see the role You have played in our lives. Be with them as they grow and mature and make our faith their own. Help them to trust the foundation we have laid and to know that You are with them, always, that You love them, fiercely and completely. Amen.

Exodus 16:35-36 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 16:24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 

I have a deep need to understand things. If you do something differently than I do, I’m probably going to ask you about it. The intent is not to imply that my way is best. The intent is to understand your way and to see if I should be doing things differently. I think a lot of people misunderstand my intentions when it comes to this tendency.

Exodus 16:25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 

Commentary implies that those who are surprised when the double portion gathered on Saturday doesn’t stink or get maggots (unlike what happened in verse 20) and those who go out to gather on Sunday (even though the Lord said there would be no manna) were not trusting God, that they had to personally experience it to take it as truth. Maybe they were just trying to understand. 

Exodus 16:26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

Precious Savior, You created me exactly as I am, curious and inquisitive, tender-hearted, enthusiastic, compassionate, a little awkward, hitting every single high and low in life. Help me to love myself as You created me and to use who I am to bring You glory. Help me to accept others as they are as well. Amen.

Exodus 16:27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 16:20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

Commentary says of verse 20, “The bad experience of their disobedience led them reluctantly to obedience.” In the parenting world and the real world, that’s called natural consequences–as in this is just the real-world consequence when you make the choices you’ve made (as opposed to “You are grounded because of the choices you’ve made”).

Exodus 16:21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 

We make decisions every day, and every decision comes with a natural consequence. Not all natural consequences are bad, and some are so much worse than others. But the math of “Should I do this or should I not? Is it worth whatever the consequence?” is the mathematics of life. 

Exodus 16:22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 

Precious Savior, Thank You that You do not want automatons who follow You because we have no choice. You want us to choose You. Daily. I think it hurts Your heart when we make bad choices, choices where the natural consequences hurt us. Thank You for not turning Your back on us, no matter how stubborn we are, no matter how poor our choices. Help us to make good choices today. Amen.

Exodus 16:23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ ”

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 16:8a Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. 

Somehow, for some reason, I convinced myself somewhere along the way that I could not show negative emotions with God. As you might imagine, that led to a lot of resentment on my part. How can I have a close relationship with someone who only sees my happy face? It’s not sustainable, even in our relationship with God.

Exodus 16:8b Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”

News Flash: God is bigger than our feelings. It took me until I was well into my 30s to fully embrace that, but it is true. God is bigger than any emotion I have and express. He can handle my anger, fear, frustration, misery. He will not turn His back on me because I emote. He will not kick me out of the Kingdom because I don’t keep my feelings in line.

Exodus 16:9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’ ”

Precious Savior, Thank You that You are bigger than my feelings and that You want all of my–not just the shiny, happy bits. Thank You that I can be real, raw, honest with You and that You will never leave me nor forsake me. Help me to keep my grumbling in check, but thank You that You love me even then. Amen.

Exodus 16:10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

Have a blessed day.