THE BITTER AND THE SWEET

"So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.  And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah [bitterness].  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?  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." (Exodus 15:22-25).

 

God sent His servant Moses to lead Israel out of the bondage that they knew in Egypt, and to bring them into the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  God worked a great miracle of deliverance when He divided the Red Sea, and caused Israel to pass over in safety while Pharaoh and his host were drowned as they pursued after the Israelites to destroy them.  What happened immediately afterward was extremely significant.

 

Exodus 15:22 reveals that Moses led the people from the Red Sea to the wilderness of Shur; but for three days, they found no water to drink.  According to Survival: The Last Laugh, by Ron Hood, Ed.D., the rule of threes states that a person can live for:

 

Three minutes without air.
Three hours without shelter.
Three days without water.
Three weeks without food.

After three days, Israel was already desperate and needed water right away or they would soon begin to perish.  It's interesting to note that the place that God led them was called Shur, which means "wall."  Certainly, Israel had hit a very solid wall which they could not scale by themselves without God's help.

 

Soon after this, Israel came to a place that was called Marah, which means "bitterness."  They found water there, but the place was called Marah for a reason: the waters that they found there were too bitter to drink.  There is nothing worse than thinking that your problem is solved only to discover that the thing that you put your hope in was not the answer at all.  "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." (Proverbs 13:12a).  As a result, the people began to murmur against Moses.

The Lord often allows us to suffer lack in order to prove us, and to teach us to trust in Him.  We lack wisdom, money, patience, love, good health, perseverance, faith - you name it.  All of these things can be bitter reminders that we are in this wilderness with God, and He is the only One Who is able to sustain us, and satisfy our thirst.  He knows our needs even before we are aware of them, but it is so much easier for us to murmur about them rather than to trust Him to supply them.  We are in our heavenly Father's classroom, and He is teaching us so that we can say with Saint Paul, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:11-13).  Everywhere and in all things, we are instructed.  Therefore every episode of our lives is a valuable lesson with the potential to make us stronger Christians.  "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28).

 

Moses was very wise.  The first thing that he did was just what all of Israel should have been doing: he cried out to the Lord.  Moses went to God for direction in this desperate situation.  It seems like it is much easier for us mere mortals to be haters, deniers, or fixers, than to be prayers.  When we pray, however, God is able to move in our lives in such a way as to glorify Himself, and bless us.  This process of suffering need, calling on the Lord, and being delivered is a theme that is repeated over and over in the Bible.  It is death and resurrection, it is the fellowship of Jesus' sufferings, and it is the savor of Christ.  It is also the lot of every child of God.  The Apostle tells us that we are, "…always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.  For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." (2 Corinthians 4:10, 11).

 

When Moses prayed, the Lord showed him a tree which turned the bitter waters sweet when it was cast into them.  Dear Ones, when we call on the Lord, His answer is always the same: He shows us a Tree!  Not just any tree, but He points us toward Jesus, the Tree of Life.  It is He Who turns our bitter disappointments into sweet, new opportunities.  It is He Who turns death into new life.  It is He Who turns our failure into victory, and our sorrow into joy.  Our hope should never be placed in some thing - our hope should always be in some One!  It is He Whom God has appointed, "…to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:2b, 3).

 

If you are going through tough times right now, please know that you are not alone!  The thing that you are experiencing is not unique to you.  Peter tells us, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." (1Peter 4:12).  We have a tendency to think that, as Christians, everything should go smoothly for us, or else we are not where we should be in the Lord.  Just try telling that to Daniel, Joseph, or Paul!  We are being molded into a beautiful vessel by the Master Potter.  Sure, it doesn't feel comfortable when He is pushing and prodding the clay to form it into the shape and design that He has in His mind, but we can be very sure that He knows just what He is doing.  When He is finished, we will come out of the fire as a vessel of honor, suitable for the Master's use.  Let Jesus turn all your bitterness sweet again, and you will find Him to be a fountain of living water that will spring up into eternal life.

 

"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life."  (Proverbs 13:12).