The healing tree!
Verse for Today: Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Exodus 15:22 – Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.
God allows His children to go through a series of tests to help them grow in their faith. Going through one test would mean that greater tests are on their way to see to it that their trust in God increases. Crossing of the Red Sea taught them the lesson that they could cross it only by faith and total dependence on God and His strength. But soon after the song of praise on the other side of the Red Sea, a very serious test awaited them. The two million people and their cattle couldn’t find water for three days. This is all the more serious when it happens in a desert and while they are traveling. Moses would have found it tough to pacify the thirsty people. But when they finally found water, against their expectations, it was bitter and undrinkable. God proved to them that human effort would only bring forth bitterness and griping even in the wake of horrible thirst and unbearable heat of the desert. But their response to the delay in finding water and the bitter water they found led them to grumble. It seems the people have lost the flavor and taste of the crossing of the Red Sea to believe that God will find a way for them to have enough good water. So instead of grumbling, they should have cried unto God for water. We are often like Israelites in times of shortages, depravity and bitterness in life, as we also grumble instead of praising and trusting in Him who has already prepared water for us with His healing tree thrown into it. Today God is waiting for us to express our faith and trust in Him so that we can see the hand of God working in our lives and out resources. The pathway might be through a scorching desert without shade and without drinking water. But He will sustain us with sweet water till we reach a safe haven of rest at Elim.
Dear reader, are you compelled to forget your Red Sea experience because of the heat and thirst of the desert? Are you getting tired of walking around for a drink of water to quench your thirst? Is there not a single human being who is willing to show a drop of kindness to you by offering you a drink of cold water? Are your eyes dim due to thirst that you are unable to see the water God has prepared for you? Are you prone to grumble because of your pain, misery and the parching throat in a seemingly difficult situation? Remember, the compassion, kindness and grace of your God are still available for you. He is the same God who brought you through the Red Sea. He knows your need for water and the large quantity you need for yourself and the people who are with you. He will not give you water or any of His resources in a small quantity to make you scramble. When He gives, it will be sufficient for all of you to quench your thirst till you reach another source which He has prepared for you. You might go through the bitterness of Marah, but God has a wonderful answer to transform Marah into healing, sweetness and satisfaction. But you need to ask God and wait for Him to give you solutions for your Marah to become tasty and sweet. The death of His Son on the tree would become the healer of all your sin-sicknesses and make your life a fragrant and sweet savor for God. The answer to thirst, heat and the bitterness of life lie with Him. If you have suffered from it all, He will heal you spiritually, emotionally and physically so that you can continue on your pilgrimage with praise and joy in your heart.
Psalms 23:2 – (The Lord) makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters.
Thought for Today
Your Lord who died for you on the tree is able to heal all the bitterness in your life.
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