WATER FROM THE ROCK

“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”  (Exodus 17:6a)

When some folks get to heaven, they will probably want their mansion a different color.  They always seem to find something about which to gripe.  That was a persistent flaw among the Israelis in the Exodus.  God’s provision in the past ought to have instilled confidence, but instead they respond to their problem with complaining.  How much like them we can be!

In Exodus 17, there is an example of one such DIFFICULTY (v.1).  They had no water.  This did not surprise God for He had led them to that very place by the pillar of cloud and fire.  The child of God must know that God brings us to barren places.  We arrive in seasons of dryness sent to test us and meant to teach us.  They come to drive us in desperation to God, not to make us despair of God.  Difficulties will make us better or bitter.  It depends on whether we respond with faith or fretfulness.

In their case, the Hebrews responded with DISCONTENT (v.2-3).  The root problem was their unbelief.  They failed to recall God’s unlimited power or rest in His unfailing promises.  Their stubborn heart of unbelief was an affront to God.  They set limits on Him by failing to recognize the boundless ability and absolute integrity of Almighty God.  “How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!  Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.”  (Ps.78:40-41)  God is warning us lest we have the same sinful spirit (see 1 Cor.10:1-13).

That is what brings DELIVERANCE (v.4-7).  Moses responded properly.  Rather than complain about the lack, he cried out to the Lord.  That is what difficulties are meant to cause.  If you are a leader in the church, you will find members who attack you because they are angry with God.  They can’t get to Him, so they gripe to you as His representative.  Moses, like all God’s men, become targets for the arrows of murmuring meant for God.  They fall short of heaven and hit our heart.  The example of Moses helps us.  He didn’t yell back at them in frustration, but called out to God in faith.  Like Jesus, Moses was meek (Num.12:3)—an essential quality for spiritual leaders.  Instead of clubbing the complainers, he strikes the rock.  That rock symbolized the Rock of Ages—Jesus Christ.  Paul said, “For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”  (1 Cor.10:4b)  As Moses struck that rock, so Christ was smitten on Calvary, and from His side flowed the water and the blood.  In that stream alone can we find eternal satisfaction.  Jesus told the Samaritan woman that drinking of this world’s wells would only lead to thirst again—she had tried that!  He offered her Living Water—that which will fill the thirst of our soul.  That is Jesus and Him alone.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.  (Joseph Scriven)

PRESS ON!

 

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.  (Gal.6:9)

It is always too soon to quit.  Satan wins the victory if we stop even one step from the goal God has set for us.  Discouragement is one of the Devil’s most effective weapons.  Discouragement leads to despair, and despair to defeat.  In the heat of battle, we cannot flee from the fight, but must face the foe and press on!

Paul tells us not to become weary doing good, because doing good is always the difficult thing.  Everybody would be doing good if it were easy.  Instead, we will be racing into the wind and swimming against the current.  We must press on!

God promises a harvest if we till the soil, plant the seed, cultivate the ground and patiently wait.  The farmer doesn’t sow the seed and return the next day—or even the next week—and expect to gather the crop.  Following the spring of planting, there is the long, hot labor of summer, for without that there cannot be the harvest of fall, and the winter of feasting.  Even then, there will be the seed to preserve and the soil to prepare for the next season to plant.  We dare not give up when we do not see immediate results, for God has promised a harvest!  The timing of its arrival and the quantity of its yield is up to His sovereignty, but the assurance there will be something to reap is rooted in Him who cannot lie and will not fail.  What we must do is press on!

That doesn’t mean it will be easy.  It absolutely will not be!  The Lord warned us.  Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  Jesus doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulty.  We can have peace—being at relying on His work and resting in His will—the peace of His providence.  When Satan says, “Give up!” then the Savior says, “Go on!”  The Devil would make us lose heart, but we hear Jesus say, “Take heart!”  Cheer up, my brother and my sister, and press on!  How can we be overcome with worry, then He has overcome the world?  This is not the wishful thinking of a feeble man, but the triumphant promise of the God of Heaven!  The tide of trouble will beat against the seawall of our confidence, yet it cannot break us down if we are grounded on the Rock of Ages!  May God give us a resolute faith, a tenacious hope, and an enduring love so we may press on!

Years ago, I had one of those challenging times when I had major surgery and an extended hospital stay.  One of the things that helped me was an inspiring book by Bible teacher, Warren Wiersbe called, “The Bumps Are What You Climb On.”  The opening story is of a small boy and his sister walking up a steep mountain path, strewn with stones.  He complained about it, “This is no path at all!  It’s all rocky and bumpy!”  She answered, “The bumps are what you climb on!”  They are.  Press on, dear child of God.  Press on!