In the face of disappointment (4)

Hello everyone,

How are you doing on this day? I hope well and bubbling in the Lord. The past few days, we have been looking at how we respond to disappointment, using Exodus 15v20-27 (New Living Translation):

“Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced. And Miriam sang this song: “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; He has hurled both horse and rider into the sea.” Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”). Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink. It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to Him. He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, obeying His commands and keeping all His decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.” After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water.”

Beloved, regardless of what we see or encounter, let us never doubt God’s love for us. Like the children of Israel, God has given a wonderful promises …. And then we come into something that doesn’t look like what we were promised! Joseph had dreams of greatness but then he was sold into slavery and thrown into jail. It didn’t seem to fit with the plans for greatness. Abraham finnnnnnaaaaaaalllly had a son, but was told to sacrifice him. It didn’t seem to fit into the plan for posterity and having numerous children. The children of Israel had just left Egypt with much pomp, riches, and joy, thirst and hunger was not what they signed up for. What do you do when you are faced with disappointment and it seems things are really not going well?

The Bible tells us that it was in Marah, in the midst of difficulties that God set a standard for the children of Israel to test their faithfulness. We see a similar thing even for Abraham. 1 Peter 1v6-7 (New Living Translation) says “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” Never doubt God’s love for you and His working in the midst of all of this. Abraham and Joseph saw this in retrospect, and the things that were written aforetime were written for our learning.

Prayer

Father, we thank You for Your Word. Let us never doubt Your love for us but to see that all things do work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.