“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.’” – Exodus 16:3
Is there anything more quintessentially human than to grumble, complain, and doubt God’s goodness as He leads us on the uncomfortable journey from a problematic past to glorious future? Israel had been living in brutal, oppressive, and bloody slavery in Egypt. God had worked astonishing miracles before their very eyes to lead them to freedom from the mightiest nation on earth.
However, between slavery and the promised land was a time of deep uncertainty. The desert. Where would they find food and water? Was it even safe to be there? In between slavery and the promised land was the uncomfortable desert of utter dependence on God. They couldn’t provide for themselves. They didn’t understand how God would provide for them. Rather than trusting God, they trusted their reason and doubted God’s goodness, dreaming of going backward to the familiar.
In the desert between slavery and the promised land, the people forgot the horrors of the past and remembered only the good parts. We often do the same today. Sure, their children were killed and they had to work as slaves making bricks. But they knew where their next meal was coming from!
Any time God’s people are being led from a problematic past to an exciting future, there will be a desert of doubt, a place of discomfort and absolute dependence on God. Like the Israelites, we often hate being in that place! We, too, struggle to trust God’s sovereign, wise, and good leadership. We, too, forget the bad parts of the past and dream of turning back the clock. However, that isn’t the way forward into God’s glorious future!
The people of God have no choice but to be dependent on Him! We must trust Him. We must believe in His wisdom and His goodness. We must resist the temptations to glorify a flawed past while dreaming about returning to it. We must walk forward toward the future God has in store, confident of how everything will ultimately turn out in God’s timing!