the book of Exodus | Daily Encouragement

^“Moses also said, ‘You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.’” (Exodus 16:8, NIV)

The Children of Israel in today’s scripture were not long in the desert after being delivered from slavery in Egypt before they began to grumble (defined as “bitter complaining in a muted or indirect way”) about their life, their lot, and their prospects. Some began to question the wisdom of the exodus as the historical revisionists amongst them argued that their former life in Egypt really wasn’t that bad.

Had they forgotten the promises of God as quickly as they had forgotten the visible evidence of God’s power in the plagues on the Egyptians, His presence in the miraculous exit from Egypt, and His provision as they entered the desert without the wherewithal for an extended sojourn? God had not deserted them, but through their increasingly negative attitudes and utterances, they had deserted God.

For the disciple of Jesus, to grumble about our life, our lot, or our prospects — even if the intended objects of our indictment are our leaders, our neighbors, or even our friends — is, actually, an indictment of God. The antidote to such negativity is to remember evidence of the power of God in your own life; to remember the presence of God in all of your circumstances (past and present); and to remember the faithful and timely provision of God when all of our resources had been exhausted. – Luther

Tagged desertion, grumbling, Moses, the book of Exodus

January 16

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“Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. . . The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, ‘What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?. . . But select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.’” (Exodus 18:1, 13-14, 21-23, NIV)

Many of us suffer from the malady “NIH”: Not Invented Here. A more proper diagnosis is xenophobia, which is a fear of strange or foreign things or people.

In today’s reading, we see that Moses had a serious problem, and his father-in-law (Jethro) offered a strange, but effective, solution: Delegation of authority. Moses, as we know, had a distinguished resume as a leader, administrator, prophet, and priest. Moses had seen things no other person in the history of the world would see. Moses could have rejected Jethro as irrelevant; and he could have rejected Jethro’s advice as inappropriate and untested; but to his credit, Moses did neither.

When you face problems, always leave room for God to work. This often means remaining open to the possibility that God may be presenting to you the solution from an unanticipated place or from an unexpected person — even from a stranger. – Luther