Forgetfulness

"They forgot what He had done, the wonders he had shown them." - Psalm 78:11

I recently traveled to Egypt, which was an amazing experience!  While I was there I took some time to read back through parts of Exodus, which has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible.  When I stood among the ruins of ages past I was reminded of the story of the Israelites being forced to make bricks for hours each day in the hot sun.  I was surrounded by miles of sand and not a cloud in the sky to provide a break from the sun's intense heat.  I cannot imagine that kind of hard and exhausting labor day after day.

"They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; and in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly." - Exodus 1:14

I was so hot and was just standing still, so I couldn't imagine being there and doing hard work under even worse conditions.  BUT, I was reminded that God saw His chosen people and had compassion on them and sent Moses to set them free.

"The Lord said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.'” - Exodus 3:7-10

After hundreds of years of slavery, God rescued His people and set them free.  Time after time in Exodus we see God provide and protect His people.  And time after time we see the people fall back into the same patterns of doubt and mistrust.  So much so that at some points they longed to return to the "knowns" of slavery in Egypt than to continue in the "unknowns" of the wilderness.

"In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, 'If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.'” - Exodus 16:2-3

And this kind of whining and complaining didn't happen just once or twice, but again and again.  And instead of giving up and telling the Israelites to figure it out for themselves, God repeatedly provided for the people.  This is such a beautiful reminder of how gracious and faithful God is even when I am not.  

It is so easy to read through Exodus and judge the Israelite people, but I am just like them.  The second things get hard, uncomfortable, discouraging, etc. I begin to complain and I so easily "forget what He has done."  Instead of taking time to sit down and recount His faithfulness and goodness, I clench my fists in frustration and wish for a lesser, but more familiar setting.  

Maybe today you find yourself in a wilderness season.  Maybe you are feeling doubtful, discouraged, and depleted.  Maybe today it all just seems like too much and you are longing for a lesser, but more familiar setting.  Come with me and let's remember together that He is good.  He is faithful.  He is gracious.  

"They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand up like a wall.
He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas; he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.

But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?

True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread?
Can he supply meat for his people?” - Psalm 78:11-20