Day 36 - Issue 24
Exodus 15:23 NLT
When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means ‘bitter’).
At the start of any journey there is a mixture of excitement and anxiety. The destination is the goal, but the details of the journey start to demand our attention. I travel easily and I travel light. Even so, there can be unanticipated events that disrupt my planned arrival at my destination. Such external interruptions have an impact upon my inner being.
As Israel miraculously escaped through the Red Sea, after brief celebration, they quickly discovered the reality of the wilderness they’d entered. They were pioneers exploring the consequences of saying yes to God. Their first experience was finding refreshment that proved bitter to the taste. This in turn caused them to despair.
I can see that life is a journey towards God’s eternal embrace. I have little control over the time at which I step into that embrace, something Katey and I discovered as MS took her life aged 53. This was not the destination, the end point we’d imagined, and one we were ill-prepared for. Initially assuming that God would intervene and physically heal Katey, we were disappointed at the bitter reality that this was not to be the case. Like the Israelites, we looked to blame someone for this. We called out to God, yet God’s answer, or our ability to hear and take hold of that answer, was not conveniently located in the equivalent of the next verse.
We had to find the resilience required to continue our journey in faith. The wilderness was a place of difficulty with no obvious sources of life support. We had to decide if we were to go on or turn back.
Resilience, the ability to recover in the face of difficulties and then go on to overcome them is a fundamental for every follower of Jesus determined to walk the way of faith. Without developing resilience, we will most certainly falter and jeopardise our chances of ever reaching our destination.
QUESTION: How resilient is your faith?
PRAYER: Lord, you have never promised me a life without trial or testing, but I’m grateful you have promised to never leave me through all the trials of life.
