June 03, 2020

Daily Reading – Exodus 17:1-7

Exodus 17:5-6
5 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Throughout Exodus we see a repetition where Israel complains they don’t have enough, and God provides for them. It seems as though Israel approached their journey with the assumption that after God provided for them once, they would never have to experience lack again. On the other hand, it seems as though God wanted to regularly allow them to get to a point where they desperately needed Him. While there was never a doubt He would provide, there was a danger that the Israelites would forget it was God Who supplied their every need and cared for them every step of the way.

Discomfort has a way of reminding us how frail and insufficient we are and how much we desperately need God. Leanness is often the greatest blessing God can give us because it draws us nearer to Him. We see again that God provided for Israel in a way they would have never imagined, and He would continue to do so in new and incredible ways. As Scripture tells us in Psalms, God only does wondrous things! It may not always seem wondrous on the journey, but we can trust God to keep true to His Word!
• -Eli Faulds