Maintain The Rage

My normal working life is fairly sedentary, but when we go on holidays Maureen insists that we walk everywhere – and I complain. “My legs hurt.” “We’re not going to walk all the way to Broadbeach again are we?” Like a mother with her reluctant child she negotiates, “We will walk there and if you are tired we can get the bus back.” She doesn’t just stroll either, she walks! and I sometimes feel like jogging to keep up. After a few days the complaints reduce and the enjoyment begins.

In Exodus 17 the children of Israel are complaining and they have had good reason to complain. They were slaves in Egypt for 400 years, so they complained and cried out to God for deliverance, and finally it has come. On the journey to their promised land they have been plagued by bitter water which God made sweet. They have suffered hunger and God has provided food for them. Now they suffer thirst. It threatens their life again and they are frightened, so they do the natural thing; complain and cry out for help.

Interestingly Moses sees their complaints as an attack on himself and on God. He even fears for his life. On the other hand God simply deals with the problem. He gives Moses instructions about how to provide water.

I think that the stories of God providing food and water are deliberately put side by side, to build up a cumulative picture of God, who does not ignore human complaints about real human need, but offers a solution. It might take 400 years, it might be ongoing like the manna, or it might be a once off experience like the water, but what they are learning is that God is with them, caring for them and providing for them.

They are in a time of incredible transition and change. People often see that life would be better and more secure if…., but they find it difficult to deal with the changes required to get there. Most scientists believe that global warming is real and that human behaviour is part of the cause, but we are not prepared for the necessity of destroying some industries and developing others to solve the problem. We want the promised land, but we don’t want the hardships of the journey to get there. So we complain and blame and even threaten the lives of those who point out the truth.

In a church setting we have seen the church decline in numbers over the last 50 years in the western world, and we have complained and blamed and searched for solutions. We are in a time of great transition and we are crying out for help. We have a wilderness to go through and the journey is tough, but I have no doubt God will bring us through.

Living Faith Church is 5 years old and I can understand if some might be looking for results we haven’t seen yet and complaining about our progress.

Complaint (positive discontent) is the driving force behind change, so I say ‘maintain the rage’ (without anger), because the journey to the Kingdom of God is not easy and a sedentary lifestyle won’t get us there. We need to get walking – Following Jesus.

The ultimate question for Israel, for the world, for the church and for us, is about faith; “Is the Lord among us or not?” (V7)

Of course the Lord is with us, but are we prepared to look beyond our self interest to hear the solutions he is giving us.