If you were miserable walking through the desert without food and water for three days, and came to this place, would you want to leave? I wouldn't either. But this happened to the Israelites. After walking three days in the desert without food and water, they came to Marah (Ex 15:22-26) where they found a water source. But when they tasted the water, it was bitter, essentially the sediment had formed that made the water not potable. So what did the Israelites do: "And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?'" (Ex 15:24)
Here is the thing about grumbling: It often comes during trying circumstances. After all, going three days without water is very, very difficult. And then to come to some water and find it undrinkable would be the last straw, pun intended. How many of us would have been mumbling and grumbling right next to our neighbors? if you don't believe you might be doing this, you can assess your own life today. Do you ever complain and grumble about circumstances? Have you ever grumbled about the leadership of a company or the church? It isn't so far-fetched to imagine we would be joining the grumbling crowd.
Yet, as the Lord so frequently does, He shows them mercy. Miraculously, the bitter water becomes sweet. Then the Lord tells them:
Here is the thing about grumbling: It often comes during trying circumstances. After all, going three days without water is very, very difficult. And then to come to some water and find it undrinkable would be the last straw, pun intended. How many of us would have been mumbling and grumbling right next to our neighbors? if you don't believe you might be doing this, you can assess your own life today. Do you ever complain and grumble about circumstances? Have you ever grumbled about the leadership of a company or the church? It isn't so far-fetched to imagine we would be joining the grumbling crowd.
Yet, as the Lord so frequently does, He shows them mercy. Miraculously, the bitter water becomes sweet. Then the Lord tells them:
“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” ~ Exodus 15:26
The problem rested in their inability to trust God despite their circumstances. They failed to remember that God saved them in Egypt. He certainly would not let them die in the desert. His very name and renown are at stake. And yet, when they were in their circumstances, they could only see their own needs and could not remember God. They became their own gods, and so as their own gods, they made pronouncements on Moses and Yahweh: "How dare they treat so-and-so deity this way!"
But God still led them and gave them water AND led them to this beautiful oasis called Elim:
But God still led them and gave them water AND led them to this beautiful oasis called Elim:
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water. ~ Exodus 15:27
So after all of that, would you want to leave Elim? Probably not. But eventually, you must leave. An oasis in the desert is still in the desert. God has far better for the people of Israel, the Promised Land. But they need to trust Him and NOT settle down thinking this is it. They must trust that to stay at Elim is to, as C. S. Lewis describes, settle for playing with mud pies rather than the Resort on the sea.
So too, grumble and settle, grumble and settle tends to be our practice. Like the Israelites, this world is a wilderness. Sure it has some Elims, but they pale in comparison to the true Promised Land, the splendor and beauty of eternal Paradise. Grumbling and settling is a terrifying condition, one that denies God to be God and declares oneself as the new world deity. Whether we realize it or not, every time we complain and grumble and settle, our hearts grow a bit harder, our vision a bit narrower, and our works a bit drier. We become far too comfortable.
We must pick up our things and start heading out to face the wilderness. As nice as Elim is, if God says there is much better, despite what things appear to be, we must trust Him, as Caleb and Joshua did. Eventually, Elim will become a terrifying prison. The springs of water will run dry. The palm trees will wither. And when you come to realize you should have left a long time ago, it will be too late.
So too, grumble and settle, grumble and settle tends to be our practice. Like the Israelites, this world is a wilderness. Sure it has some Elims, but they pale in comparison to the true Promised Land, the splendor and beauty of eternal Paradise. Grumbling and settling is a terrifying condition, one that denies God to be God and declares oneself as the new world deity. Whether we realize it or not, every time we complain and grumble and settle, our hearts grow a bit harder, our vision a bit narrower, and our works a bit drier. We become far too comfortable.
We must pick up our things and start heading out to face the wilderness. As nice as Elim is, if God says there is much better, despite what things appear to be, we must trust Him, as Caleb and Joshua did. Eventually, Elim will become a terrifying prison. The springs of water will run dry. The palm trees will wither. And when you come to realize you should have left a long time ago, it will be too late.