Isn't that what we ask ourselves whenever we read about how the Israelites did nothing but murmur and complain when they were making their way through the desert after leaving Egypt? Didn't they just see God level Egypt to its knees with the plagues? Didn't they get to follow a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night? How can they complain about their circumstances and act like God has abandoned them when they just saw Him part a sea so that they could walk across on DRY land. Not a creek bed, not a small, shallow river, a SEA. How could they doubt God and think that their plans were better when they had just seen all that? Isn't that what we do EVERY day? I know I do. From the small things, to the big things, I know that I complain and doubt God. I will give one small example that He showed me tonight. I have been delivering pizzas for a local Dominoes for about the last month and a half. I make a small hourly wage but of course the real money is in the tips. Up until recently, I found myself complaining when I have to go certain places to deliver a pizza. I would think to myself, well I am headed to this neighborhood, I'll be lucky if I don't get robbed, let alone tipped. Gosh, why do I have to go here??? yada, yada, yada. Shouldn't I just be thankful? Isn't God in control? I confess with my mouth that I believe in Him, but do I really? If I really believe that God is the one in control I have to believe that He is the one controlling how well I am tipped. He knows what my needs are even before I do, so He will give me what I NEED. So instead of me trying to just take the deliveries to the "good" parts of town to make sure I get the most money, God is teaching me that I just need to be thankful for every tip and even the "no tips" because He controls it all.
Now I know how much I get in tips is a fairly small issue but I find myself being that way in so many aspects of my life. I ask how can the Israelites complain about their circumstances or doubt that God is with them anymore after the incredible things they've seen. When it comes down to it however, I do the same thing that the Israelites did. At no point did God ever abandon them, just as He has never abandoned me. He is in control and has me right where He wants me to be. We get so worked up in thinking that we know what is best for ourselves that we begin to doubt God. When God took the Israelites through the desert, He knew exactly where they were the whole time. He provided their every need. He protected them, He fed them and gave them water. That wasn't good enough for them though. They thought they belonged in a better place. They thought they deserved to be where God had promised to take them. They wanted it right then and there! God knew however, that the desert was right where they needed to be at that moment. Was it easy? Probably not, but God was with them there. He was taking them through there with a purpose in mind. I think I am very similar to the Israelites in this way. God knows exactly where I need to be, how long I need to be there, and when He will take me to what He has promised me, but I in my flesh so many times think that I know better. I think that I should be in a certain place by now instead of where I am at. I forget that it is God who has brought me to the place I am in and He has something for me right here. He feeds me, protects me and gives me the water I need in the place I am at right now. He knows when I'll be ready to move on to the next thing much better than I ever will.
I pray that I will continue to just let go and trust God in every aspect of life. From the small to the really big. He knows exactly what is in store for me and my family and as long as I leave it up to Him, it may not always be easy, but it will the best place for me.
