When am I going to get it?

And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. – Exodus 15.23-27

It didn’t take long for the people to forget what God had done. They had barely finished the great victory songs when, at the first sign of trouble, they started to complain again. It is a pattern which goes on over and over and over again.

Despite watching God do such a great work the Israelites first response the bitter waters at Marah was to complain. When the visible blessings were gone so was the faith and so was the praise and so were the songs and so was the worship. Instead there was disappointment and bitterness and complaining. And why? Because God was not blessing the way they thought He should.

I don’t know about you, but I find myself here more often than I like. Being back in the hospital all of a sudden is doing that to me. I am tempted to forget the blessings I see all the time and focus on the hassle and disruption to my daily life.

I find it easy to criticise the Israelites, but can excuse it when it comes to me doing the same. I have a good excuse, this is, after all, me!

True praise is never affected by circumstances or situations or settings. True praise is based on character. It is based on the character of God as true and loving and caring and in control, and that He is immortal, invisible, God only wise.

And it is based on my character in trusting Him based on who He is and not on what I see.

The things that were written ‘aforetime’ are written for our learning. May I learn from the example of the Israelites.