Tempted to Doubt
I confess I was tempted. Tempted to doubt the love of my Father. Shaken by circumstances, I lost my focus. Because of what happened to my son, I let circumstances get bigger than my God. Scripture commands us to magnify the Lord, but I magnified the problem. It consumed me with fear.
There were many questions in my mind. Why didn’t God prevent his seizure? Why did his children have to be there when it happened? Was God among us or not?
While I was reeling from the shock of it, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. Others confirmed this truth: God’s hand of protection had been on him all along.
It began to sink in. While I was tempted to doubt, there were many reasons to be thankful.
Because our son was in his own home when it happened. What if he had been driving? What if the whole family had been in the car?
Because only weeks before he had been in the remotest parts of Africa, hours from civilization. What if it had happened there?
Because his wife didn’t fall apart in the face of crisis. She took control of the situation telling the kids to pray while she administered CPR. What if she didn’t have the strength and fortitude to make wise decisions in the middle of their chaos?
Because our grandchildren obeyed Mom’s instructions to pray, crying out to Jesus for help. What if they hadn’t been taught to pray?
Because a lady “happened” by the house while the kids waited outside for the ambulance. She soothed our grandson’s tears assuring him Daddy was going to be just fine. Who was she anyway?
As I began to intentionally thank the Lord for these blessings, I felt the peace of God consume me. The kind that passes understanding. It was if Jesus was assuring me everything would be okay, just like the lady outside had said. While the weeks ahead would be filled with more reasons to doubt, I was determined to keep thanking God and stand on what I knew to be a fact: The Lord truly was among us.
Read Exodus 17:1-7
1. In what way were the people of Israel putting the Lord to the test? How did they react when their need was so great?
2. What does the Lord tell Moses to do when he cried out to Him for help?
3. How did God provide for their needs? What stands out to you about the Lord’s character here?
4. What was the place called and what was the significance of those names? (check your Bible notes for help with meanings)
Read I Corinthians 10:3-4
5. How do Paul’s words to the Corinthians relate to the story above? Who is our Rock? What spiritual truth can you apply to your present circumstances?
God was looking for faith. So He allowed His people to be stretched beyond their human abilities. How wonderful it would have been if Israel had proclaimed, “Because God opened the Red Sea, we know He will provide water for us to drink!” Yet we read that the people tested the Lord by crying out, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Have you ever wondered if God was there in your crisis?
Moses tried to get the people to believe their God would never forsake them. That they should keep holding on. God knew how to meet their need for water, but He longed for their trust. He had the water supply on hold hoping they would recognize His love for them. But they failed to cast their cares on the Lord and did what they knew best. They grumbled and complained. But what I love about this story is the display of God’s character in the face of their doubts. Compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, their God provided water out of a rock. This represented the spiritual sustenance that the Lord continually provides for his people. Even today God is our Rock! He proved that He was with Israel despite their unbelief. He was looking for their faith and was disappointed. Yet the love of God provided for them even when they gave into the temptation to doubt. They didn’t realize the Lord truly was among them. Do you?
They began to doubt the reason for Moses leading them to this place where there was no water for them to drink. But really GOD was going to show them the many great things HE could do for HIS people – if only we would trust truly in the LORD – no doubt about things. But doubt comes in the first happenings of things in our lives – then when we get a hold of GOD – HE knows just how to work everything out in our lives. GOD even sends people along we do not know and they encourage us in our daily walk with HIM. The LORD told Moses to take Elders along with him and take his rod also and the LORD would tell Moses what he was to do before the Elders – the LORD said HE would be standing on the rock in front of Moses and the as he hit the rock out came the water – just as the LORD had promised and the LORD told Moses to tell the people to drink the water – GOD always supplies our needs for us if we would only really believe HIM. This is truly a wonderful lesson for all of us to think upon during our week to come – The LORD is always beside us at all times if we would only realize it. The place was called Massah, and Meribah because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? Are we not always like the Children of Israel – we question HIM at first and then the word of GOD will come to us and change our minds. Paul’s words to the Corinthians is saying the same thing to those people as Moses did to the children – they all ate the same meat – they did all drink the same spiritual water because the followed the same spiritual ROCK – which was the LORD. HE is also our ROCK in our lives today – I do not know what I would do without the LORD in my life each day – HE is always taking care of me and things that happen around in my daily walk of life. Karen – the things you family went through with your son are really uplifting – GOD is always by our sides as long as we have the faith to believe this – complaining to the LORD really does not get us anywhere at all – we really need to have much faith at the time of things that happen to us – we really know HE is always right beside us in the troubled times. I find HE is such a comfort at night times and during the days when I am all alone and think of my husband of 49 years – the LORD is the one I really depend on in these times – I know Louis is in Heaven looking down and sometimes I just talk to him like he is right beside me. The LORD gives me the comfort in these times of my life. Great lesson.