Morning Moments

THE WOOD
[Ex 15:25] And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

Crisis always calls for the cross. The cross changes things and presents us with two important lessons in our Journey with Jehovah: Truth and Testing, both of which demand trust.

From the time of Burckhardt, who was the first to rediscover the well, Howâra has been regarded as the Marah of the Israelites. In the Wady Amara, a barren valley two hours to the north of Howâra, where Ewald looked for it, there is not water to be found; and in the Wady Gharandel, two hours to the south, to which Lepsius assigned it, the quality of the water does not agree with our account. It is true that no trace of the name has been preserved; but it seems to have been given to the place by the Israelites simply on account of the bitterness of the water. This furnished the people with an inducement to murmur against Moses (v. 24). They had probably taken a supply of water from Ayum Musa for the three days' march into the desert. But this store was now exhausted; and, as Luther says, "when the supply fails, our faith is soon gone." Thus even Israel forgot the many proofs of the grace of God, which it had received already.Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament - Commentary on the Old Testament – Volume 1: The Pentateuch.

How prone we are to forget what God has previously done for us. Life is a crisis that calls for the cross and all its provisions to make the bitter moments sweet. He took upon Himself all of those bitter water experiences as the One who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities”. He was tempted and tested in all points as we are. He knows the depths of pain and agony that comes to us in those bitter moments. The agony of a dying child, the pain of a broken heart, the moments of deep depression, the times of rejection, and on and on, He knows about all of those times when life seems unbearable and nobody understands. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so was the Son of man lifted up that we might look to Him and be healed.

The wood, the cross, what He did in laying down His life for us is enough for any situation or circumstance we might be called up to face, BUT in order for us to see our need for sweet water, we must taste the bitter.

Don’t despair in you moments of grief or gloom, but look unto Him who began the journey with you and will finish it with you. Look unto JESUS and see that the bitterness of the cross brings the sweetness of the resurrected life.

BLESSINGS!