You know how sometimes you can be reading the
Bible--well, you can be reading anything, really--and a line just jumps out at
you? That’s what happened when I was reading this passage to get ready
for tonight’s service. The last verse of
our reading just jumped out at me. It says Moses “called the place Massah
and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord,
saying ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’”
Moses is leading the people of Israel during their time of
wandering in the wilderness. Now, we say “wilderness”, but a lot it was
desert. And what’s the main
characteristic of a desert? Right, there’s no water. The people start complaining, and since Moses
is the leader they complain to Moses. And Moses goes to God and says,
“What am I to do with these people? They
are almost ready to stone me!”
Now, it’s not clear whether the people were really that
upset or if Moses was being a little melodramatic. Or, maybe Moses was a
little panicked--after all, he knows they need water, and people are looking to
him to get them water, and where’s he supposed to get water from in the middle
of the desert? But of course, God provides them with the water they
need.
And Moses calls the place “Massah and Meribah”. The
word “Massah” means testing and the word “Meribah” means quarreling.
That’s what the people of Israel were doing.
And remember, God had appointed Moses to lead the people. So when
the people argued with Moses, they were really arguing with God. When the people tested Moses, they were
really testing God. And, as that last verse tells us, they were asking
“Is the Lord among us or not?”
And when you put this in context, you have to ask, “How in
the world can the people of Israel be asking that question? How can they
doubt that the Lord is among them?”
Think of all the things God had done for the people of
Israel. God had put a series of plagues on Egypt, so that Pharaoh would
release them from slavery and let them go. And not only did Pharaoh
release them from slavery, we’re told that they plundered the Egyptians before
they left. They took all kinds of valuable stuff--gold, silver, fancy
clothing--and after all the plagues, the Egyptians were happy to give it to
them, just to get them out of there.
And then, when Pharaoh changed
his mind and tried to recapture Israel, God parted the Red Sea to let them
escape. And then God put the Red Sea back together again and drowned the
Egyptian army. And then, when the people
were hungry in the desert, God provided the manna for them to eat. I
mean, you read several chapters before what we read tonight, and it’s all “God
did this for Israel, and God did that for Israel, and God did something else
for Israel”. And yet, here they
are. They want water, and they don’t see any, and so they say, well, is
the Lord among us or not?
You cannot blame Moses for
being a little frustrated with the people. In fact, you cannot blame God
for being a little frustrated with the people. God does all this stuff
for them, time after time after time.
And then, when there’s one thing they want and they don’t get it right
away, they question whether God is really with them. I mean, Israel was
God’s chosen people, but when God kept hearing all this griping and whining and
complaining and questioning, I would think there had to be times God wondered
if maybe He should’ve chosen somebody else.
But you know, are the people of
Israel really all that different from you and me? Probably not. Think about your life. Think about all the times God has been there
for you. Think about all the times God gave you what you needed when you
needed it. I don’t know about you, but
for me it’s happened time after time after time. Every time I got into a
spot where I really needed something, God provided it. Every time I’ve been in a situation where I
really needed God to be there, God has shown up. Every time. Time after time after time.
And yet. And yet, every
time I get into a spot, I get scared. I wonder if God will really be with
me this time. I wonder if God will
really help me this time. I wonder if God will really take care of me
this time. Even though I know all the
times God has been there for me, I still have trouble trusting that God will be
there for me this time. I’m just like the people of Israel. I’m asking “Is the Lord here with me or not?”
Do you do that? I mean,
I’m not asking for a show of hands, but think about it. Do you do
it? Do you get into a tough spot and
wonder if the Lord is really there for you? No matter how many times God
has been there for you, do you still have trouble trusting that God will be
there this time. Do you ask, as the people of Israel did, “Is the Lord
among us or not?”
It really does not make a lot
of sense, does it? It seems like at some point we would stop
doubting. It seems like at some point we would learn that God is worthy
of our trust. And the thing is, we know that’s true. We know God is worthy of our trust. God is more than worthy of our trust.
We know that--and yet, we still have trouble totally believing it. At least I do, many times. And I suspect I’m not the only one.
Now, I do want to make one
thing clear. Saying that God has always been there for me is not the same
as saying God has always done exactly what I wanted. That’s not true at
all. There are many times when God has
not done what I wanted God to do.
Sometimes God did not do what I wanted because God knew that what I
wanted was not the best for me, and God had something better in mind.
Sometimes God did not do what I wanted because what I wanted was for God to
take me out of a tough situation and God knew it would be better for me to see
the situation through. Sometimes God did
not do what I wanted, and I still don’t know why--I’m still waiting to see what
God has in mind.
But the point is that God has
always been there. God has been with me every step of the way, even when
that way did not lead where I wanted it to. And any time it felt like God
was not there, it was because I was trying to insist that God do it my
way. When I stopped trying to force God to do things my way, when I said “thy
will be done” and let God do things God’s way, I felt God with me again.
God was there, and God helped me through it.
If you’re wondering whether God
is with you, try to remember all those times God has been there for you.
If you still have trouble feeling confident that God is with you, try to see
where God might be at work. If you
cannot see God at work anywhere, ask yourself: am I really looking for
where God might be at work, or am I looking for God to do things my
way?
And if it looks like God is not
going to do things your way, ask yourself if it’s possible that God might have
something better in mind? God does know better than we do, after
all. God sees farther into the future
than we do. God knew better than I did
for what my career should be. God knew better than I did for who my wife
should be. God knew better than I did
for where I ought to live. Over and over
and over, God knew better than I did. And God knows better than you do,
too.
And if it looks like God is not
going to take you out of a tough situation, ask yourself if there might be some
reason for that. Could God be leaving you in this situation to teach you
something? Could God be leaving you in
this situation because someone needs you to be there? And if you cannot
see a reason, can you still say “thy will be done” and trust God enough to let
God do things God’s way?
Because there is good
news. The people of Israel asked “Is the Lord among us or not?” I
said earlier that you could not blame God if God was a little frustrated with
them. But if God was frustrated with the people of Israel, He did not
show it. God did not get angry with
them. God did not punish them.
Instead, God showed that the answer to their question, “Is the Lord
among us or not?” was yes. God was with them. God always had been with them, and God always
would be with them.
God understands our
doubts. God understands our fears.
God will not get angry with us for that. God will not punish us
for that. When we wonder if God is with
us, God will show us that the answer is yes. God is with us. God has always been with us, and God will
always be with them.
But we’d sure save ourselves a
lot of worry if we could just learn to trust God. So let’s do that. Let’s be confident that God is with us, and
God always will be with us. God may not do what we want. But God will always do what is best.
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