It was a touchy spot for the LORD.  These were not good memories in their relationship together (Psalm 95:8-11).

“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
    as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
 where your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
 So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

What happened at these places?  When we look back we see what was going on..

They had reached the place of Massah and Meribah and there was no water.

They were in a desert.

And there was no water.

Why did Moses bring them all this way to die with thirst?

So they took out their anger and frustration on Moses.  The complained and quarreled bitterly among themselves and against their leader.  And since God was the one leading them, they were indirectly, but in a way directly, complaining against the Lord God,

They were sure Moses had brought them to the desert to die.  They were sure God had brought them to this place to die.  And who on earth would bring so many people to a place that had no water?  Wasn’t Moses competent to keep them safe?

But God had led them there through Moses.  They were there for a reason.

It reminds me of a book I read where a group of 25+ people had run to escape an invading nation.  It was dangerous times.  They were crossing an unknown and at every turn, the leaders of the group prayed and asked the LORD which direction to take.

When it seemed like the group was just wandering in circles, the people started complaining bitterly.  So one time they caved and went with the group complainers direction.  That direction ended up costing the life of a baby.  And eventually months later the mother of that baby gave up the will to live.  She followed her little one in death.

But what do we do when it feels like God is taking us to a place that is killing us?  That he literally leads us to something that is so hard we feel like we are dying–physically, emotionally or spiritually.

On a personal note, that was the feeling I had the last 10 years.  And I did not handle it well.  I became angry at God and complained bitterly.  And said and did things that even today I regret.

Yet in his great mercy 9 weeks ago the Lord gave me a great healing and deliverance.

It changed me.

But what should I have done?  What should we do?  What should the Israelites have done?  What should you do?

We are not promised a life of comfort and ease. Nor are we promised that everything will be smooth on our journey.  In fact, we are promised the opposite.

So what do we do?

1) We remember what he has done in the past.

Look at the text.

though they had seen what I did.

God states that though they had experienced extraordinary miracles, they had forgotten who he was and what he could do.  And that’s often the case.  We know we have received miracles in the past, but we doubt whether he will come through this time.

2) We Come to Know his Ways

He is good and kind and righteous.  Though they had experienced miracles, they had not known his ways.

they have not known my ways.’

His ways are good.  But wow, it doesn’t feel like that when we are hurting.  And suffering.  For YEARS.  And DECADES.

But if we look to the LORD, we see that His purposes and understanding are bigger than ours.

We think of the journey of Job.  He suffered the loss of all things.  And when he complained to God about it, after a long time God answered (ch 40-41).    Job’s response was this:

“Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3).

Nobody wants to be in Job’s position.  Nobody wants to suffer.  But the LORD sees things from a bigger picture.  If we trust His goodness, we can pour out our hearts to him like David, while at the same time coming to the point of surrender.

3) We Seek Him with our needs with thanksgiving in our hearts.

Instead of coming to the LORD in a spirit of anger and frustration, we come with our needs in the spirit of worship and praise and thanksgiving.  We thank Him for what he has done in the past, we reaffirm our trust in His character, and we present our requests to Him.

4) We practice Long-Suffering.

This is the one we don’t like.  We want God to answer right away.  We want Him to deliver us soon and lift our burden.  We don’t want to wait for a year, or two or a decade or decades.

 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Another translation of “long-suffering” is patience.  But I like the word “long-suffering” better as it more aptly displays the condition of the soul.

 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father (Colossians 1:10-12).

Long-suffering is part of the journey.  We keep the faith with thanksgiving and trust even while we endure patiently.

5) We fix our eyes on the Eternal

In eternity everything will be made right through Jesus.  In this life, not everything will be made right.  Evil still abounds.  Hurt happens at very deep levels.

If we fix our eyes on this life, we will fall into discouragement, despair, depression and even death.  But if we fix our eyes on Jesus, there is always hope.  And hope carries as in the same way as buoy in the ocean.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Many others have walked the way of suffering before us.  They stand as witnesses to the faithfulness of God.  So we fix our eyes on Jesus.  He, too, knew suffering.

I write these things not as one who passed the test.  I did not.  Ten years about did me in.  I can’t say I did much right in trusting the Lord.

But I do hope this next time this happens I won’t be like I was.  Or like the Israelites were.  But I will look to the Lord in trust in His character.  And wait on Him.

Lord, let it be.