“All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.’ And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?'” Exodus 17:1-7
“In distress you called, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Psalm 81:7-10
Exodus tells us the quarreling Israelites tested the Lord at Meribah, while Psalms says it was God testing them. The people, full of themselves and their rights, snipped whether God was even with them, while the Lord begged them to stop snarling and listen, and look, to Him. If they would but open their mouths, not in whining and complaint but in sure anticipation, He would fill it! Vantage point and perspective determine how and who we see.
Why is it so hard to think vertically and look long? Why is our default to blame God above when our horizontal becomes uncomfortable? When we live circular lives with me at center, we fail to recognize the Lord ahead, and get agitated at the adjustment of changing our ways. It’s easier to complain and blame than to humble ourselves and admit Almighty God knows more than we do. He wants us to open our self- imposed boundaries to His supernatural unlimited.
Where has God faithfully led and provided for me in the past? Do I trust Him enough to expect Him to work again, or do I get cantankerous when things are difficult, and suspect His motives, or doubt His care? Rather than get testy with Him, how might I pass His tests of faith?
Lord, please replace my wrangling and irritation with solid trust that honors You.
As the rain and snow 