Do you ever wonder if God has left you? Do you wonder if he has forgotten about you? When you are experiencing difficult times, do you question God? Are there times when you feel like screaming out of frustration? Is it in those moments that you question God?
When we are going through difficult times, we may wonder if God has left us or is ignoring us. Our natural inclination is to blame someone else. So, if we can find no one else to blame, we blame God. But our perspective is limited. We only see our immediate situation.
The Israelites questioned God. Moses gave the place two specific names when they questioned God. Massah means to test. Meribah means to quarrel. From Moses’ perspective, the Israelites were testing and quarreling with God. They had forgotten or lost their faith. They were complaining that God had brought them out of Egypt to kill them.
Though we might not always think that God is with us, he never leaves us. We are to remember he is with us, even when it seems he is distant. His silence does not mean he has left us. It means he is waiting for us to fall to our knees and surrender to him. He wants us to stop trying to do it on our own and trust him to take care of it. We are not to have places of Massah and Meribah. We are to have places that demonstrate our faith.
I pray we all decide not to test or quarrel with God. I pray we know he is always with us. I pray each one of us will use moments testing to strengthen our faith and put it on display. Do not test God. Do not quarrel with God. Strengthen your faith. Demonstrate your faith.
Exodus 17:7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Marty Pressey 