Today, if only you would hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
Psalms 95:7b-9 NIV
Are you getting frustrated with God? Does it seem as if everyone else is getting ahead while you strive in frustration just to lift one leaded foot out of the mud? This is the moment you are most vulnerable to hardening your heart, just as the Israelites did more than 2000 years ago.
After 400 years in slavery, God rescued the Israelites out of Egypt by parting the waters to let three cross to safety then closing up the waters on Egyptians who were chasing after them on horses and in chariots. They had just left the Desert (Wilderness) of Zin where God had provided manna for them to eat every day for 40 years. Camped out at Rephidim where there was no water to drink, the people became thirsty and complained that Moses had ever taken them out of Egypt in the first place. Their hearts were hardened because they chose to forget what God had already done for them.
When you are tempted to shake your fist at God because you don’t understand what is going on, why things are the way they are, remember the many ways the Father has provided for you. He cares for the people of His pasture.
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
Psalms 63:1 NIV
Stoplight Devotionals 