Monday 24 Mar 2014

Monday Reading: Exodus 17:1-7

Key Verse: Exodus 17:5
And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go.

Devotion:
When the people of Israel were ready to give up and even blame Moses for their hardship, lack of water and general dire outlook they perceived, God stood by them. Moses was listening to God and continuing to obey Him every step of the way, doing his best to get things right and please God; not forgetting that he was human and did make mistakes as well… But the people did not have that direct link with God and grew weary when they were thirsty, being ready to stone Moses for bringing them out into the desert.

This was just another step in God’s plan to make them realise that He was and always will be their God, all powerful and all knowing, full of grace and mercy. Moses turned to God and He gave him the means by which the people would see God in action. Now Moses could have taken these words and thought they were too silly to obey; I mean, hitting a rock with a stick is not exactly the normal thing to do to get water. But Moses knew God’s power and he knew that God would do what He had said.

We have to show God that we will trust Him when the times comes by listening to what He say, no matter how much it may go against what we think is normal. We have to trust Him with our lives because He is the one that has given us those lives to start with. God called the people out into the desert and was not about to let them die after they took that step of faith. When God asks us to do something and we take our step of faith, He will not let us down; He will continue to be with us every step we take in His care.

If we try to analyse things we will very quickly work out that we are not worthy. This is the picture you may get when you read this passage, that the people are not worthy because they are not trusting God fully; but God’s faithfulness should never be put into question because it is absolute and true. We are not worthy. Just as they were not worthy. But God loves us just the same, just as He loved them. God will continue to love and support us as long as we have stepped forward trusting Him in the beginning.

Points to Ponder:
Do you grow weary working for God?

Do you know how much He has already done?