Slow Mo: Overcoming Difficult Circumstances – Wednesday
Exodus 14:11-12
“Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” (NLT)
You would think being allowed to leave Egyptian captivity after centuries of enslavement would be enough to fuel the faith of the Jewish people. But oh how quickly God’s people can forget what He has done and is willing to do. Once they were released, God intentionally instructed Moses to lead the people away from Egypt in such a way that they appeared lost. Of course, they weren’t lost under God’s guidance. But when Pharaoh heard this he had a change of heart and saw what was perceived to be confusion as a chance to retrieve the fleeing slaves. After all, Egypt’s economy and Pharaoh’s reputation were in complete disarray with the departure of the Jews. Today’s verse reveals the response of the Jews once word began to spread that Pharaoh, along with 600 of his chariots, was in pursuit. Israel panicked. And it wouldn’t be the last time. This is just the beginning of a long spincycle of faith and doubt, faith and doubt, that the Jewish people would live out on their way to The Promised Land.
We know the rest of the story. God safely delivered His people from Pharoah eliminating Pharaoh and his army at the same time in the Red Sea. But even after such a sound victory, after which the Jewish people sang passionately about God’s faithfulness, all it took was a shortage of water to quickly bring back the grumbling. The Bible says, “Then the people complained and turned against Moses.” Here we go again.
This might be a good time to pause and do some introspection ourselves before we judge the Israelites. How much challenge or discouragement does it take for us to forget about all that God has done? How long before we, too, start complaining again about how God must have forgotten us? When we forget who God is and what He can do, we move quickly to imagining the worst possible outcomes. We conveniently develop amnesia regarding God’s previous demonstrations of faithfulness.
Wednesday’s Reflection
After Jesus calmed the storm, He looked at His disciples and said, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4). Allow Jesus to gently ask that question of you. What else could He possibly do to help you live confidently as opposed to fearfully today?
