January 26, 2025 - Exodus 16-18

The whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 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’” (16:2-3).  What?!?!  God had just performed amazing miracles to bring the people out of Egypt where they were persecuted and even their babies were being killed!  Like Israel, we so often live only in the moment.  Sometimes, it seems as if nothing past or future matters; all we are concerned about is the present moment.  Well, life is full of moments, both high and low.  To get caught up in one of the highs is to sink to the low in the next moment.  We certainly cannot judge God’s faithfulness by any one moment; often, we do not even rightly interpret that moment.  God has sustained Israel to this point; they have to know he will continue to do so.  And so, for us:  “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:1-2).

Now thank we all our God

with heart and hands and voices,

who wondrous things has done,

in whom his world rejoices;

who from our mothers' arms

has blessed us on our way

with countless gifts of love,

and still is ours today.   --Martin Rinkart (1636)