Passing through bitter waters

Moses led the Israelites away from the Red Sea and into the desert of Shur. They traveled for three days in the desert. They could not find any water. Then they came to Marah. There was water at Marah, but it was too bitter to drink. (That is why the place was named Marah.) The people began complaining to Moses. They said, “Now what will we drink?” (Exodus 15:22-24)

God has just delivered you from some HUGE thing that was weighing heavily upon your shoulders, such as the bondage the Egyptians kept the Israelites under, and your immediate response to your deliverance is to sing praises to him. That sounds about right, doesn't it? Now, a few days or weeks pass by, and we find ourselves facing something much less challenging, but a hindrance, nonetheless. Our 'immediate' response in that moment is to praise God, right? Not always! If we are anything like the Israelites, when we face the first 'bump in the road' following God's mighty deliverance, will our response be to complain that we don't have whatever it is we need? I wish this were not true for all of us, but if you are anything like me, you probably have done it!

There is no drinkable water - although there is water. It was 'bitter', but it was still there. Could it have been filtered somehow, or boiled for their use? Probably, but their first response is to see the 'trouble' they face as "God not taking care of us" like he should be. Instead of turning to God to see what he would do, they rose up in complaint for their 'misfortune' in finding bitter water. As the saying goes, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", may not have aptly applied here, but God knew what he was doing, even though they didn't! There is much God 'does' that we don't understand, isn't there? We find 'bitter waters' in our path and think it could never be God's place of provision. Even bitter waters can be God's provision - we just have to see how he will transform them for our good use.

The rest of the story: 'So Moses called to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a large piece of wood. When Moses put the wood in the water, the water became good to drink.... He said to him, “I am the Lord your God. If you listen to me and do what I say is right, and if you obey all my commands and laws, then I will not give you any of the sicknesses that I gave the Egyptians. I am the Lord who heals you.” Then the people traveled to Elim. At Elim there were twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees. So the people made their camp there near that water.' (vs. 25-27) The bitter waters behind them, the promise of good things before them, they came to a 'supply' greater than they imagined possible. 

That how it is with God. He brings us to a supply greater than we could ever imagine. We may go through the place of 'bitter waters' before we get to the springs of water and lush groves of provision, but we shouldn't complain about the bitterness along the way. The provision is there, we might not know how it will be provided, but we can count on it to come. Just sayin!