Now is the time... To Cry Out to the Lord

And the people complained against Moses saying, “What shall we drink?” So he cried out to the Lord…… Exodus 15:24-25

The story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt gives many lessons and is worth re-visiting now and again. God brought them out from the Egyptian’s oppression and out of great bondage. They did not leave empty-handed as slaves normally would but they came out with wealth, handed over to them by neighbours who were glad to see them go.

It was a great deliverance followed by the crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army who had pursued them to their death. In the last verse of Exodus 14 it says, “so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses.” In hindsight we could add, “….for the moment”, because it didn’t take them long to find something to complain about.

They travelled 3 days in the wilderness and had finally found water. Their joy soon turned to anger as they discovered the water was no good for drinking. They were tired, thirsty and probably anxious about their future; this was just too much to bear, so Moses again bore the brunt of their displeasure. But Moses knew where to turn in his dilemma. His immediate response was to cry out to the Lord and the Lord showed him how to make the bitter waters sweet. The answer was ‘just a call away’.

Perhaps you have come through a difficult time and then, just when you think you have the victory all sorted out and the battle behind you, another challenge blocks your way forward, and you are faced with your own bitter “waters”. You have a choice; either you can whine and
complain and find someone to blame, or you can run to the Lord and ask him to show you how to make your bitter waters sweet.

The good news is that there is never any need for us to face our challenges alone; our God is always available, Psalm 34:15b says that his ear is always open to our cry. We just have to ask him how we should handle whatever arises. James 1:5 says, “If anyone lacks wisdom let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” That is God’s promise for whatever situation we face.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that I can run to you in my troubles and in my joys. Help me to avail myself of your great wisdom and not to try to ‘go it alone’. Amen