Three Days

Devotion for the Week...

Three days isn't a very long time, is it? Our memories are pretty good over a time span of three days, especially for significant events. As I'm writing this on Sunday evening, three days ago was Thursday, when I was super tired after several poor nights' sleep in a row, I went to Nathan's basketball game immediately after work and I had a meeting after a late supper. It's pretty simple to remember.

Since we're agreed that it's not hard to remember the events of three days ago, just hold that in your mind for a moment as you read these verses:

"Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water.  When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”). Then the people complained and turned against Moses. 'What are we going to drink?' they demanded." (Exodus 15:22-24).

Three days. That's all it took for the people to turn against Moses, which is really turning against God since Moses was only doing what God told him to do. Now, I grant you that three days of wandering in the desert without water would be stressful, especially when they finally come to an oasis only to discover the water is undrinkable. However, this was only three days after they had strolled along on the floor of the Red Sea with walls of water looming large on either side of them. You would think that experience would be firmly lodged in their memory, right along with a firm conviction that if God could do that, then surely He could provide them with water to drink.

It's easy for me to sit in my nice, cozy chair tonight, sipping my tea and condemning the Israelites for how quickly they forgot God's ability to provide for them. Unfortunately, the truth is that I can be just as quick to forget. I can be just as quick to doubt that God will provide for me and I can be just as quick to start complaining. It's easy to pass judgement on others and not so easy to admit that I'm liable to make the same mistakes. Are you like that, too?

Background quilt is a sneak peek of Formal Garden, coming soon 😊

The challenge for us, then, is to notice when we're acting like the Israelites in the desert. When we start complaining about what we don't have, let's pause for a moment and look back to see if God has provided for us in the past. Of course He has! So, since He has provided for us in the past, let's remember that we can trust Him to provide for us now.