When God Seems Far Away - Exodus 15:19-17:7; Psalm 27:1-6; Proverbs 6:20-26

And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?" – Exodus 17:7

 

The Israelites didn’t feel like life was as blissful as it ought to be for people whose God was the Creator and Ruler of the universe. They were going through the desert and had no water. They reasoned that if they claimed to follow the God who provides for the whole universe, then that God ought to make life especially easy for His own people.

 

So they grumbled and quarreled. Life wasn’t easy.

 

And they tested God. Rather than trusting Him—the God who had already brought them out of Egypt by sending ten plagues on the Egyptians, the God who had divided the Red Sea for them, the God who had destroyed the Egyptian army in the same Red Sea, the God who had sweetened the water at Marah, the God who fed them every day with manna from heaven—rather than trusting this God who gave them evidence every day that He was with them, guiding and caring and providing for them, the Israelites set up a test: If God gave them water, He was with them; if He didn’t, He wasn’t with them (implication: “we need to find a new god”).

 

This kind of behavior basically spits in God’s face. Yes, we follow God because He is capable of caring for us. Sure, we should expect that a good and powerful God will provide us with good things. But when God has delivered us from oppression, saved us from danger, guided us safely along a path we do not know, destroyed our enemies (at least some of them!) already and has already provided water where no drinkable water existed, when God makes it clear every day that He is there for us (pillar of cloud and fire/today: His recorded words available and His Spirit within us), when God is literally giving us our daily bread every day, is this response right? When we test God, aren’t we just becoming manipulators? Aren’t we treating God more like a slave than a God?

 

Father, help me to trust You today and every day. You are God. You are visibly providing most of what I need every day. When needs come up and I can’t see how you’re meeting them, remind me of all the things You have already done for me. Open my eyes to all the things You are already doing for me today! And teach me to humbly ask You about the needs that are overwhelming me. You are God. You are good. You are with me. Help me to be thankful and humble, trusting that You will meet all my needs. And help me never to manipulate You, wickedly pretending that You have not been good to me for long enough that I can fully trust You now.