Thirsty?

Click here to read Exodus 17:1-7

"...the people thirsted there..." Exodus 17:3

In this passage of scripture we see the Israelites camping at a place called Rephidim. They had reached Rephidim not according to their own plan, but according to the plan of the Lord. The reason why they were at Rephidim was because they had obeyed the Lord’s command to journey in stages and God had specifically led them there. “…the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded…” Exodus 17:1. In other words, the Israelites were walking under the perfect will of God.

They carried with them the testimony and experience of a fascinating account of God’s power and provision. God with his mighty hand had delivered them from slavery and from Pharaoh. He had split open the red sea before them. They had seen their enemies dead on the seashore. Bread had rained from heaven for them each morning and quails in the evening. Now, the Lord had led them to Rephidim.

It was obedience to the Lord’s command that brought them to Rephidim. However, at Rephidim there was no water for the people to drink. Walking in the perfect will of God, yet lacking provision! Is it possible to walk in complete obedience to God and yet lack His provision? Note verse 3 – “…the people thirsted there for water…” The keyword in that phrase is “there.” Where? - At Rephidim. Where? - At the very place that they God had led them to. What caused them to reach that place? – Their obedience to the Lord’s command. Was it not natural for the Israelites to expect God to provide them with water? They were not asking for anything extravagant. Just plain water to drink. After all, God had provided bread and meat from heaven. Has it ever occurred to you that God has withheld his blessings that you really, really, really need and you could not figure out why?

It was such a test that the Israelites encountered at Rephidim. The people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” Why did they say that? They said that because even though they were slaves in Egypt, they at least had water to drink. Even though they were being lashed by whips by the Egyptians, they at least had water to drink. Even though they had to work and toil hard to make bricks for Pharaoh, they at least had water to drink. In other words, they would have preferred to be in Egypt under slavery than come to Rephidim and die of thirst. In other words, they preferred security over freedom.

Why did God bring them out of Egypt? Was it to give them food, water, clothing and a good home? No. The primary reason was that they would worship God! That a relationship between the Israelites and God would be established and that they would become heirs to the covenants of promise. Food, water, clothing and every other blessing was a by-product – not the main product. The main product was that they would have the privilege to have God to speak to them and live amongst them and have a relationship with them.

Allow me to expand along this line of thought with an illustration. I love the beach for its sheer beauty and hence I visit it whenever I can. That is the main product – the sand and the waves. However, when I go to the beach for the sand and the waves, I am also allowed other privileges: The privilege of feeling the sea breeze; The privilege of watching birds fly around; The privilege of observing fishermen casting nets; The privilege of witnessing the joy of a child playing in water; all this and a lot more. All these are by-products of the main product.

If you were to take any of these by-products away, I would still return to the beach. This reveals the real reason behind my visit to the beach. If you were to take the fishermen away, I would still want to visit the beach. If you were to take the birds away, I would still want to visit the beach. However, if you were to take the sand and the water and waves away, I would not return to the beach, regardless of the presence of the by-products. The entity, upon whose elimination, I lose the desire to visit the beach, is the essential and actual stimulus behind my visit to the beach.

Coming back to the Israelites, when the entity of water to drink was eliminated for a while, they expressed that it would have been better for them to remain in Egypt. What does that reveal? It reveals that all along it was not God they were after but His blessings! They considered His blessings the main product! When God withholds His blessings from your life for a while – as elementary as drinking water – do you feel your faith staggering? Do you feel the flame diminishing? Do you start complaining and murmuring? Do you start questioning God’s love? If you are honest and take a close look at yourself you will come to the humiliating revelation that you have been serving God for your own means. You considered His blessings to be the main product. You will realize that your devotion to God is based on the work of His hands and not on Him. Search your heart today. Why do you serve God? Is it because you need Him to serve your means? There were plenty of people around Jesus when He was alive and doing miracles, but there was only one at His tomb when He was dead and doing nothing.

Let us look at God’s response to the complaint. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel” Exodus 17: 5-6. God provides water for them, not at Rephidim, but at Horeb, where God stood. In other words, the Israelites had to travel from the “place they thirsted” to the “place where God was.”

The journey from Rephidim to Horeb is one every believer has to take. Sooner or later God will engineer circumstances in your life that will make you realize that you have not been seeking His face, but the work of His hands. Once this revelation comes, be humble enough to take the journey from Rephidim to Horeb.

The word Rephidim means “support”. The word Horeb means “desolate”, “parched”, “dry” etc. The Israelites questioned God’s capability on whether He could give them water at the place of “support.” God’s response to the complaint was to lead them to the “parched, dry, desolate” place and made water gush from it to quench their thirst. You could call this a mighty display of God’s power. You could call it the magnificent provision of God. However, I must add God has a tremendous sense of humour!

The glory in the wind

Click here to read Matthew 14:22-33

Matthew 14:31 “…You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

In this passage of scripture we see Jesus commanding the disciples to get into a boat and go over to “the other side” of the sea. (Matthew 14:22) That was their target destination – the other side. As they were making their way on the boat, they experienced extremely difficult circumstances. A very strong wind began to blow against them. The gospels record that they strained very hard at the oars trying to steer the boat to “the other side” all night. Early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea. (Mathew 14:25). The disciples were terrified. “But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”” (Mathew14:27)

Upon hearing this, the Bible in Mathew 14:28 says that, “Peter answered him “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on water.” Think about that statement for a moment. Peter answered?? Peter answered?? Which question was he answering? Jesus didn’t ask him any question. I would have liked it if the Bible had said “Peter stated” or “Peter requested” because that would have made more grammatical sense, but the Bible wasn’t written to satisfy my likes. Certain versions use the phrase “Peter replied.” The root word there implies “Peter answered.” What was he answering?

We find that in the earlier verse, Jesus reveals Himself to them - “…It is I…” Every revelation of who Christ is to us is also an invitation for us to walk like Jesus walked. Peter was answering that invitation. Peter was giving his reply to that invitation. “But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles…” (Galatians1:15,16a). Think of the first time the truth of the gospel was revealed to you. Did you really need an invitation? No. You just knew that the invitation was there. When Christ revealed His salvation to you, you would have replied, “Lord if that is you; bid me to come to you.” And the response forever will be “come.”

“…So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water and came toward Jesus, but when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught him saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mathew14:29-31) There are four things we see happen to Peter: 1. He noticed the wind 2. He became frightened 3. He began to sink. 4. He cried out for help. However the response of Jesus was none of the following: 1. “You of little focus, why did you notice the wind? 2. “You of little courage, why did you fear?” 3. “You of little perseverance, why did you sink?” 4. “You of little composure, why did you panic?” The response of Jesus was “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” This indicates that the four things that happened to Peter happened because he doubted and he had little faith. It was because of the lack of faith that he noticed the wind, became frightened, began to sink and cried out in fear.

Think for a moment what Peter went through. He noticed the wind. What does the wind have anything to do with walking on water? From the little science I know, anything that’s denser than water will sink and vice versa. The wind has nothing to do with whether something sinks or floats. I could try walking on water right now and I am sure I will sink – regardless of whether there is a wind blowing or not! So why was it that Peter took special note of the wind that caused him to fear? Although the wind had nothing to do with Peter walking on water, the wind was the chief cause of a previous failure. It was due to the wind that they could not row the boat ashore. There are many “winds” that we as believers take note of. The wind of failure, the wind of hurt, the wind of opposition, the wind of rejection and so on and so forth. Are the “winds” of yesterday that caused you failure and dejection causing you fear for your walk today?

“…But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…” (Philippians 3:13) Do not let the factors that caused you failure and difficulty yesterday become your focus. You cannot walk your walk today focusing on yesterday’s winds. If you do, you will become frightened, you will sink and you will panic. So actually what did Peter doubt? He doubted whether yesterdays winds will affect his today’s walk. Notice that the disciples were terrified in the boat. (Verse 26) Then Jesus comes along and says do not fear. (Verse 27) Then Verse 30 says he became afraid again. Keep a constant watch over your life to not let yesterday’s fears creep in to today’s ventures. “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:21-26). Remember the Lord’s compassions are new every morning; they do not depend on the winds of yesterday.

Finally, verse 24 says “the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.” It does not specify which “land”. Whether it was the land from where they started or the land to which they were going. There are two ways of looking at this verse. One way is to say that the boat is far from the destination; far from the “other side”. Another way is to say that the boat is far from where it started. I may not be where I hope to be; nor am I where I ought to be; but by the grace of God, I am not where I used to be. Isn’t it amazing that even though the wind was against the boat, the boat still drifted far from where it started? “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20). Give God the glory for every wind that has come your way.

There is so much I see now
That I was oft blind to
The more of Him I get to know
The less I try to do

His works in me depend not
On mine failure, sin or hurt
But on unbelief and its blot
Will cleanse in me all dirt

When I sense His face and voice
In manners not yet known
Faith in Him will hold its poise
And doubt at last is blown

Thus in Him will my trust rest
Though with my eyes I don’t see
For I know He knows best
I’m glad His love found me.

I have no one

Click here to read John 5:1-9

John5:7”…Sir, I have no one…someone else goes ahead of me”

In this passage of scripture we read about a pool called Bethsaida or Bethesda. By the pool, “lay many invalids – blind, lame and paralyzed” (John5:3). Now Jesus happened to be there one day and his eyes fell upon a man who had been ill for thirty eight long years. (John 5:5). The Bible does not say what his illness was – so we do not know exactly what his condition was; but we do know what his illness was not. All the ill people there were either blind, lame or paralyzed. So we do know that deafness was not his issue, neither was dumbness. He was either blind or lame or paralyzed. Even though many of us may not fall into these categories, there are similar conditions that we may be in.

There are several frustrations that can creep into the life of a child of God. The first one is the frustration of being blind. This frustration is caused by being in a state where one has the potential to do many things, but cannot either due to fear or lack of self confidence. The blind man may have healthy legs and hence the potential to walk, but will not have the confidence to do so. He may have the potential to run, but cannot because of the fear of falling. He may have strong arms and hence the potential to hit a tennis ball well, but cannot because of his lack of vision. Many Christians are in this state of mind today. They feel they can contribute and do a lot more, but they lack the vision to do it. Secondly, the frustration of being lame: This is caused by being in a state of mind where one has the desire or vision to do many things, but lacks the potential or gifting to do it. The lame man can theoretically explain how to run, but cannot demonstrate it by implementation. When he sees a hill, he may have the desire to go trekking, but he cannot because he lacks the potential to do it. A lot of Christians are in this state of mind. Although they have a desire to do many things, they feel inadequate, inferior and worthless. The third frustration is that of being paralyzed. A paralyzed man, no matter how hard he tries, cannot move the part of the body that has undergone paralysis. This frustration can be described the feeling of being “stuck” all the time and not able to move and make progress no matter how hard you try – either in one particular area or in life as a whole. The Bible says that the paralyzed man had been there a long time. Likewise many Christians have been living with these frustrations also for a long time.

Believers who live with such frustrations also tend to have other problems; chiefly, self pity. When Jesus asked him "do you want to get well?"(John5:6), his response was "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."(John 5:7). People who live with such frustrations are usually bothered and troubled by two things. 1. The hopeless feeling of having no one to help and support them. 2. Getting depressed by seeing people around them making more progress than themselves. The paralyzed man lay there thirty eight long years watching people step ahead of him, getting into the pool and being healed. All along he hoped that someone would help and assist him.

The good news is that Jesus came along to the exact place he laid. Jesus knew he was ill. Jesus also knew how long he had been ill. The good news is that this man was neither deaf nor dumb and hence could communicate with Christ. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15, 16) Even though we may have many problems and challenges that are unique to us, we can communicate the same to God because Christ in His death reconciled us to God. "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Mathew 4:4). If we have the ability to communicate to God and privilege to hear from His word, then that is all that is needed for life – because man shall live on the Word of God. Remember, the man was invalid, but he could speak to Christ and he could hear from Christ.

Jesus addressed the root of the problem: “Do you want to be made well.” However, the paralyzed man’s focus was on the lack of solution: “I have no one…someone else goes ahead of me.” Have you been living with frustrations of being “lame”, “blind” and “paralyzed” for a long time? Have you being living in self pity, depression, and a feeling of worthlessness? Take your eyes off the lack of solutions and turn your eyes to the One who knows everything about you. Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus spoke a word – ‘"Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.’(John 5: 8,9) Enter boldly today into the throne of grace – there you will find mercy and grace to help you in your time of need.