Day 11

Frying Pan Faith


You have that paper to write for English and the algebra test to study for.  Meanwhile, your best friends is mad at you, your parents are upset that you haven't done your chores and when are you ever going to learn your lines for the Christmas youth play?
   If only life were simple again.  If only you could go back to the way things were before all this life stuff happened to you.
   Ever feel like that?  Well, multiply that feeling by about a hundred and you can identify with the Israelites in the desert wilderness.

Exodus 16:1-3
Then they left Elim and journeyed into the Sin Desert between Elim and Mount Sinai.  They arrived there a month after leaving Egypt.  There, too, the whole community of Israel spoke bitterly against Moses and Aaron.  "Oh, that we were back in Egypt." they moaned.  "It would have been better if the Lord had killed us there!  At least there we had plenty to eat.  But now you have brought us into this desert to starve us to death."

   For more than 400 years, the Israelites lived a horrible life in Egypt.  They were slaves.  They worked hard under awful conditions an received very little for their labors.  But, with Moses as their leader, Go had miraculously rescued them from Egypt.  Now he was leading them back to their own land.
   Just one month after leaving Egypt, the Israelites found themselves in the middle of the Desert of Sin--a huge, barren, mean land.  They had jumped out of the frying pan of Egypt.  But had they jumped right into the fire of the wilderness?  They were surrounded by danger, uncertainty, and fear.  And they were hungry.
   Had they taken the time to listen, the people would have heard God calling them.  In that barren land, God urged his children to depend solely on him.  Yes, they would encounter testing.  But God wanted these trials to lead his stubborn people to depend on him.    They had to realize that the only certainty of their lives was God's provision.
   Instead, they complained.  They attacked their leaders Moses and Aaron.  And they yearned for the past.  Sure, they were under tremendous stress, and complaining is a natural reaction to tough circumstances.  Unfortunately, their untrusting  attitude steered them into even worse problems.
   Like the Israelites, you know how it feels to be stressed out sometimes.  How will you respond the next time you feel overwhelmed by all your responsibilities?  If you need to vent, talk to a friend or trusted adult, as well as to God.  But don't just complain.  Learn to trust your Provider every step of the way.

HERE'S WHAT I'M GOING TO DO

• Remember to pray and talk to God about it
• Learn how to respectfully talk to God about my troubles and not focus on my wants and worries