About a year ago I was moving cities, excited and energized by what was ahead. Never did I think what if something huge like a pandemic happens? Not even a month ago was I thinking this way. Am I the only one feeling this way? Absolutely not. Many of us are confused about the current situation and how widely it’s spreading. We are scared and anxious, we want someone to blame. Why did the president not lock down the country earlier? Why did he allow foreigners to still come in? It’s the rich people, why did they bring us this virus from their travels? And why did the prophets and pastors not foresee this? These are all the questions we are throwing out there to deal with our fears and find blame.
This atmosphere and state reminded me of the story and journey of the Israelites when Moses led them out of Egypt as God had instructed. In the book of Exodus 17, though these guys were happy to be taken out of captivity, each time the going got tough they flipped on Moses in many occasions. In this one instance the Israelites were thirsty and wanted water in the desert. (Remember, our last thirsty Thursday conversation about the THIRST). So we are in the thirst again in the book of Exodus; the Israelites were thirsty and started with their thing and flipped on Moses, the Bible says “so they quarreled with Moses and said ‘give us water to drink’.” It continues to say in verse 3 “but the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us, our children and livestock die of thirst”
Now between you and me we know Moses was instructed by God to help His people and save them from their bondages. We also know Moses was one man so he could not have forced a whole nation out of Egypt. Every person who came, came on their own accord wanting to see the promised land. This story reminds me so much of the country right now. We are in a state of a crisis. We spend so much of our time analyzing how the leaders of the country are going about doing their job to protect us instead of looking more up to the leader of all leaders to continue to give them wisdom. We keep urging them to act and then complain about every action they take. Like the Israelites we want to be saved at our own convenience and own terms. We are saying leaders lead us but don’t mess up with our daily lives, your plans should not interfere with ours.
God was with Moses, when Moses did not know what to do with this unruly nation. He looked to God and asked Him how he should move forward with such a nation. God answered Moses not for Moses but so the Israelites could see Moses was not on his own mission. For God to be glorified. Perhaps this is where we are too.
The story goes on in the Bible to talk about how the Israelites were attacked by the Amalekites after this incident. When this attack happened, Moses sent a group of men to go fight in the physical while he went up to the mountain to seek God, verse 9 “tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands”. While the others were fighting led by Joshua, Moses was seeking God with his hands up surrendering to God. The Bible says during all this time Moses held his hands up “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword”
It is time for us to hold the hands of our Moses. We are called to be the Aaron’s an Hur’s of today. While our president is seeking wisdom to lead us the best way he can, while our nurses doctors and all other civil servants are out there trying to help us as best as they could we can hold them up in prayer as a nation. We can use this time to pray to God to heal our nation , to help us defeat our own Amalekites.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these thing shall be added unto you. Matt 6: 33
#thirstyThursday
ChurchGirl
LM
Quench My Thirst 
Amen! Let us remember who we are at this time..and our obligation as His servants, just as Joshua was called to lead, we are called to lead. God has placed a portion of His flock under our care and calls us to disciple them and lead them to His Kingdom….
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