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From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ (Exodus 17:1-7)
Traveling with small children is a difficult task at times. "Are we there yet?" or "When do we eat?" or "Mom, I'm thirsty!" You kinda know where I'm headed with this; the people of Israel on their forty-year outing became like finicky children. They had been set free from their captivity as slaves and here they were on a journey to form them as God's people and they were not happy with any of it. They lost sight of the big picture, namely their freedom and their way to a new land they would soon possess, and it seemed a better deal to them to return back to slavery, back to the known, verses a journey into the unknown. And here they find there is no water to drink and they begin to gripe about it. God always provided in His time, and this time was not different, but for them they wanted it when they wanted it.
God did provide the water and from a rock no less. And when the water came gushing out, Moses named the place Massah and Meribah because the people kept quarreling and asking, "Is the Lord among us or not?" The answer is of course, yes, the Lord is with us. And the other answer is yes, the Lord always provides. And the other answer is why do you gripe? But this is just like us even today. We hardly like venturing out from our comfort zones, even if we are being enslaved by our comfort and its trappings, rather than venture into the unknown, even if led by God. We do not yet know the great things that could be ours if we would but trust the Lord and walk with the Lord forward towards full obedience.
The great blessings of tomorrow are just over the ridge of our quarreling, in the Valley of God is among us.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to see beyond the quarreling which shows our frustration of new things, to see that which is possible through obedience. Guide me to faithfulness and let me be a blessing to You. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
Here is a video of yesterday's ConCafe off the Cuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaCZzThH85M
