Quick to Forget

"As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, 'Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, "Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians"? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'" -Exodus 14.10-12

Free at last and on the way to the land of promise. But God isn't done with Pharaoh or Egypt yet. He still will gain honor from them and show them still further that He is God. He has Israel turn back and camp by the Red Sea, and then He harden's Pharaoh's heart. He organizes a group of soldiers and heads into the wilderness after them.

As he approaches Israel becomes afraid because they are trapped against the sea. They cry out to God initially, but then quickly turn to Moses and accuse him of leading them into death in the wilderness. They say that they never wanted to leave Egypt, they were happy as slaves, and prefer bondage to death. Oh how quickly they have forgotten.

God just performed ten wondrous plagues on the Egyptians and brought them out of that nation rich. He has led them in wilderness constantly by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He has never left them, and He displayed His power to protect and provide for them. But now that they are free maybe they thought life would be simple and carefree. Maybe they thought that once they left Egypt their troubles were over forever. After all they are on the scenic route avoiding battle with the Philistines.

Men, how quickly do we forget how God has delivered and provided for us? We witness God come through and provide finances, and then the car breaks down and we forget to turn to God and trust in Him. God provides an incredible job in answer to prayer, and then the kids get sick, and we forget to turn to God and trust in Him. God does ... and then ... happens, and we forget to turn to God and trust in Him. It's almost as if we expect God to fix everything at once and make our lives problem free from that point on. That isn't the way it works.

God shows up and provides the little things to build our trust in Him, so that when the big things come, we remember how He has come through, and look to Him to come through again. You know what Israel's response should have been when they saw Pharaoh and the Egyptian army charging down on them? Something along these lines, "Oh snap, I feel bad for him. Didn't he learn his lesson the last ten times? Boy I wonder what God is about to do to him, let's watch and see how He takes care of this one." They had every reason to respond like that, and not a single one not to. And yet they are quick to forget all that God has done to bring them to this point.

Coming to God, having Him come through and provide, does not mean that all of our problems are over. It doesn't mean that there will be no more trials or battles in our lives. But it does mean that God has come through for us in the past, and we know that if we simply trust Him, we can watch Him do it again. This doesn't mean sit back and do nothing. It means have faith in God to come through. Let us never forget.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor