Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?" Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. ~ Exodus 15:22-25
Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes the intervals between these two are irregular that we are often shocked by surprises. We like to enjoy our triumphant feelings over the beautiful events and we covet the luxury of being comfortably forewarned of any lurking change of events.
About fifteen years ago, when we purchased our first house, we were very happy and feeling on-top-of-the-world. I could still imagine the smell of the new carpet in that house and the closet freshener that the previous owners left in one of the bedrooms. There were twenty roses in bloom, plums were ripening. We were in our house and we liked it a lot. Then our first mortgage payment was due. At this time Tim was working for a company that was at the verge of bankruptcy. We barely qualified to buy the house because the pay stubs that we sumbmitted to the lending agency, to prove his ability to pay a huge debt, were the last ones he got from the company. Tim was mistaken when he decided to stay longer in that company.
Our situation was then very scary. The question I had was, "Why did God even allow us to be in debt when we were going to lose our means to pay?" Suddenly the pleasure we had in owning the house turned into worries. My father-in-law was very kind, he helped us pay our all our bills. At this time Tim, loyal as he was to the old company, started his search for a new job. It did not take him long to find one. Not only that, God surprised us in that Tim was offered a huge signing bonus which was more than enough to pay for all the obligations we had incurred during the time that he was not getting paid. He started a new enjoyable job and we started to fully enjoy our house...this time with more trust in God. We've now moved to a different house but Tim still works for the same company up to this time.
God sometimes brings us to the stream of "bitter water" so that we could watch Him turn it into "sweet water." He wants us to trust Him only with the concerns of this world.
My God, you have shown me many great miracles in this life. Help me remember them all the time so that when life seems dry that I would have the peace to watch in anticipation for the next miracle that you show me. Like the Israelites, my trust sometimes fades with circumstances. Father, help me in my unbelief.
No comments:
Post a Comment