33. Run to God first

The people of Israel were looked after by the Lord. He provided them with water when they complained and He provided them with food when they complained. He was very patient with them, even though they complained and failed all the tests He put in their path.

Now God led them to Rephidim and there was no water there. And what did they do? Did they pray? No. Did they ask Moses politely what they were going to do now? No. They did what they did best, they complained again.

"Why did you ever take us out of Egypt? Why did you bring us here? We, our children and our livestock will all die!" Exodus 17:3

And this time their complaining went so far that they even wanted to stone Moses! Shocking, but true. They even wanted to stone Moses, the one who gave up his livelihood in Midian and risked his life to come and rescue them out of Egypt. Poor old Moses, he didn't have an easy time!

And what did Moses do? Did he run to his friends and complained about his desperate situation? Did he cry on Miriam's or Aaron's shoulder? Did he have a nervous breakdown? No. He did the right thing. He pleaded with God to help him in this seemingly hopeless situation. And God helped him in his time of need and provided the water that the people were craving for.

We must follow Moses' example as well. We need to run to God first when we have problems or when we need direction. We tend to do the opposite, we tend to tell all our friends and get their opinions, then we tend to ask the help of our spouses/family, we tend to post our needs on Facebook, we tend to run to spiritual advisors to give us direction but only when our situation gets desperate do we turn to God. Why do we do that? Why is God last in line instead of first? Is it because we don't want to make the effort to hear God's Voice? It is much easier to hear the voice of our friend. Or are we afraid of what God's answer may be or what He might ask us to do?

Whatever the reason, we must be like Moses and not like the Israelites. We must turn to God when problems creep up on us. Of course we can discuss it with friends, family, spiritual mentors too, but they must never replace God. He must be first in line. After all, He will have the correct solution for you, as only He knows the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. Remember this, next time you want to ring a friend first, God is patiently waiting for you to come to Him.

Thank you, thank you Lord that You are always there. You are never out of town, You are never unavailable, You are always there for us, praise Your Name! Forgive us if we don't run to You first, and thank you that You are so gracious and loving to always forgive us and to start over. Amen

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