Just Three Days!

Photo by Vishal Banik on Unsplash

So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side! -Exodus 14:22

God saved the Israelites from the Egyptian Army. He parted the waters so His people could pass through and brought the wall of water down on the Egyptian Army just in time to save the Israelites. God’s people witnessed something amazing! They walked on the sea bed with walls of water on both sides of them. Can you even imagine the sounds and the sights of that miraculous day?

Unfortunately, it took only three days for this amazing picture to be lost in their minds. They probably still had remnants of dried up mud on their feet and clothing! Three days for them to start complaining about their situation. They had experienced one of the greatest forms of God’s provision ever seen, and three days later they were already wanting more. Of course they were thirsty. A long walk in the desert would make anyone grumpy, hot and thirsty. I think an appropriate word for that, today, is hangry. But wow! They were already forgetting all the ways God provided for them, and there had been a lot! We haven’t even discussed the plagues that worked in their favor to get them permission to leave, in the first place. And if we continued on this journey with them we would see that the complaining never really stopped. After all God had done for them, they could only ever see was what was right in front of them.

It forces us to stop and think of our own lives, doesn’t it? How soon do we start to complain after God had just done something for us? Because in reality, our lives are all thanks to God. Everything we have, we owe to Him and so when we complain about anything, ever, we are forgetting that God is in charge. We disregard all the past things He has done for us and we take credit for our lives. We leave God out and complain as if we deserve something better. God gives and takes away. He is in charge of our lives and the sooner we can let that drive our living the sooner we can put down our complaints and trust, deeply, that God will take care of all of our needs.