Quote Of The Night: Finding God In The Dessert


" The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?" 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." 5 The Lord answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 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

".............And isn't it true that unbelief and rebellion make us say things that, if we were thinking straight, we wouldn't say. We begin to murmur, to complain. They also demanded relief, solve this problem, and solve it now. Psalm 78 says they put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. Our culture has taught us that if you have a problem, you should be able to solve that problem quickly and easily. You have the right to a pain-free life. Let me tell you, if you're a child of God, it's not true. There is no such thing, there is no way, as we have seen, to experience the fullness of God's grace and His glory in your life apart from walking through these experiences.

So, we must not run from them, or resent them, or demand that God fix everything for us. God is not merely as interested in solving our problems as He is in using our problems to change us. That child that you find so difficult to love, that elderly parent who is so demanding and in a difficult season of life, and you're finding yourself stressed, that is part of what God is wanting to use to accomplish His purposes in your life. How foolish of us to demand relief now. We can get in many cases, relief now, but if we do, we may forfeit the wonder, the purpose, the fullness that God wants to bring into our life by taking us through that problem.
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I often wonder how many times when things are not going they way I want or like that I forget that GOD is in control of the situation...He was the one from the beginning that ordained things to turn out the way they were..I have wasted so many opportunities to worship, praise, and grow in my walk with the LORD due to complaining about my circumstances. May I encourage you to be THANKFUL for whatever it is you find yourself in today, seek the Lord's forgiveness and peace for the complaining you have done.

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful