Bitter waters

How can a group of people see the hand of God at work to set them free and then later want to return to the very captivity from which they had been set free?  I've wondered this many times.  Then I take a look at my own life, and see the very same thing.  God's hand has been very visible many times during my life.   There have been times, that I have not been able to see it, but yet I know that it is still there.  So what do I do most of the time? Grumble and complain because my life is not going the way I want it to, weep and wail because my future looks empty.  I read a passage of scripture that kind of hit this on the nose last night.  And what do you know, it was about the Israelites on their Exodus. 

 

²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.^[a]) ²⁴ So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

²⁵ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.

Exodus 15:22-25 NIV

 

The translation I read last night referred to the piece of wood as a tree.  The word "tree" made me think about another tree, a tree very crucial to our belief.  The tree on which our Lord died.  (so I may be getting out of historical context or whatever, that's not the point I am trying to make).  So I was kinda thinking of this whole scripture and applying it to my life.  There are times I feel like I'm travelling through a desert.  The sips of water I get are bitter and don't seem very satisfying.  I grumble and complain (making me wander around in the desert some more).  There has been more than one Red Sea in my life, and God has brought me through on dry ground.  So why do I grumble and complain?  Because I don't take time to remember the "tree" in the water making it sweet.  What is the purpose of my whole life anyway?  To point others to Christ and to bring God glory.  The "tree" in the water shows that and reminds me that the waters are not bitter at all.