Do We Trust God?

Exodus 16:1–3 “1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.””

What do we trust God with?

We have plenty of reasons to trust God. We have a lot of opportunities that arise in our day to day that require our trust in the Almighty. This morning I had to trust that my three lovely children were going to act like normal humans while getting ready for church and not act like mindless, mean zombies.

Context & Background

Israelites were slaves in Egypt. They were slave labor for Pharoah in his building projects. God calls Moses and Aaron to approach Pharoah and demand their release.

Pharoah refuses and then we have the plagues.

Anybody remember the 10 plagues?

Nile to blood

Frogs

Gnats

Flies

Death of livestock

Boils

Gorilla hail

Locusts

Darkness

10. Death of Firstborn

Then what happened? The Red Sea experience, right?

Was the Red Sea experience some small thing on top of all of these plagues?

Quick facts on the Red Sea experience

The depth of the water was most likely ~200’ at the deepest point of their crossing.

The sea was most likely between ~15-20 miles wide where they crossed.

Then what happened?

They walked 3 days into the wilderness and came to a place (Marah, which means bitter) in chapter 15 that had bitter water that they couldn’t drink. And they thought they were going to die there.

Our needs

Do we trust God to fulfill our “needs”?

This was a legitimate need! These people had a legitimate need for food. They were hangry! You ever get hangry? Hangry people are irrational. And if we could describe these people in a word it would be irrational.

Manna & TP Example.

Philippians 4:19 “19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Matthew 6:31–32 “31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”

Luke 12:24 “24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!”

Our needs. Jobs, relationships, health issues. God will provide for our needs.

Now, remember our needs are different than our “wants”

Also - how many of us trust that God knows what we “need” more than we do???

Matthew 6:8 “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Our problems

How did they approach this situation?

What was their attitude?

They grumbled and were negative

These people needed an attitude adjustment!

How many pessimists (half-empty) do we have here with us today? Optimists? (half-full) Realists?

Is it easier to be negative that it is to see a “silver lining” in situations?

They also glorify their past, while diminishing their present situation. It’s funny what we choose to remember.

They have selective memory!!!

“But discontent magnifies what is past, and vilifies what is present, without regard to truth or reason.”

Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 117). Hendrickson.

They were absolutely miserable in their slavery, but it seems that they’ve forgotten all of the bad aspects about their captivity.

All that their selective memory wants to remember right now is the fact that they had plenty of food in Egypt between their beatings and their forced labor.

What are they forgetting?

ALL of the ways that God has delivered them in just the last few months!

Oh how quickly we forget what God has done for us.

I pray that we would see problems as an opportunity to trust God.

Trust & Obey.

Our future

These people basically are saying they wished they would have DIED in Egypt while they were SLAVES!

Right now they are thinking they would rather be back in Egypt and endure all of the hardships of slavery, rather than be hungry.

They’d rather die slaves, with full tummies - than be hungry and free.

Think about this a minute - do we really think that God would go through all that trouble of creating the plagues, then the Red Sea experience - just to let these people starve in the wilderness??? Do we think God just forgot about the wilderness part of the journey and now has to scramble around, call an audible, and work something out real quick?

This is a TEST!

Our spiritual journey is going to have some peaks and valleys. There is no doubt about this. If you’ve lived as a believer for any time at all, you know this to be true.

God doesn’t save us just to drop us off at the next intersection and leave us on our own.

BUT, God does stretch us, test us, refine us, grow us, mold us, mature us. And how does he do all of these things?

Through experiences that make us depend on HIM and not ourselves.

That is the point!

God has proven Himself to be trustworthy in His Word from front cover to back cover!

Conclusion -

Maybe today you’re in a position and feel like God has forgotten you or left you abandoned without any hope with regards to your need, or your problems, or your future.

What do we do? What action can we take to help us?

An OMER of Manna out in front of them (Exodus

It’s up to us to Read, Remember, and Recognize.

Read the Word

Remember that God has been faithful and can be trusted

Recognize that these things that happen to us are opportunities for us to grow and develop as believers!