webmaster posted on April 01, 2011 10:26
Drinking It All In
This week’s Old Testament lectionary reading comes from the book of Exodus 17:1-7; it gives us perspective on human doubt in the midst of
suffering. If you are like me you try to stay as far away from suffering, grief, and pain that it causes. Suffering can leave me with an awful taste in my mouth; the taste that comes from chewing medicine that was intended to be swallowed whole. Yuck!
Exodus 17:1-7 describes a moment in Israel’s walk with God when a pill is chewed that should have been swallowed. I see three big bites occurring in the Exodus 17. At the onset, the first chomp, comes when Israel chooses to argue and blame Moses for being in the wilderness. The second chew comes when Israel complains to Moses that he is trying to kill them by not supplying them with water. The third and final crunch, that fully explodes the awful taste, is when Moses smacks that rock with his shepherd’s staff causing the water to pour forth.
What can we learn from this experience? We learn that when hardship overtakes us it is easy to want to find someone, or something to bring reason to our hardship. This can be a cause for underserved blame. We learn that judgment is distorted by our lack of faith and we miss the power of God. Finally, we learn that it is not Israel’s pill of suffering that is being chewed, but it is actually God who has been chewing the pill and enduring the bitterness caused by Israel’s rejection.
You see, it is God who Israel is really grumbling against; it is God who Israel is really having a crisis of faith in; it is God who is struck in order that the nation is saved. In these verses God teases the reader with his divine plan of salvation that will be revealed fully in the Easter event. “Where Jesus is pierced for our transgressions; crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that brought us peace was on him.” Isaiah 53:5
In this season of Lent, I pray that we will reframe our moments of trial into opportunities of praise. God is still taking our thirst and doubt on the cross and transforming them into living water that refreshes and satisfies even unto everlasting life. Jesus paid it all and all to Him we owe. Drink deep and be refreshed.
Rev. Harry Riggs
First Baptist Church, Lincoln, Nebraska