Is the Lord among Us or Not?

Consider for a moment what they saw God do to their captors: The Nile turned to blood followed by plagues of frogs, gnats, and flies. Then Egypt’s livestock dies followed by boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and concluding with horrific screams in the night as a nation’s firstborn was no more (Exodus 7-11). Then consider what they received as God had their captors give them gold, silver, and clothes as they left the land that had held them captive for centuries—being given so much that it was said Israel “plundered the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:35-36). Then consider what they thought as God’s miraculous saving hand parted the Red Sea for them and drowned the armies of Egypt (Exodus 14:13-31). Then consider their full stomachs as they experienced God’s daily provision of manna and quail (Exodus 16) and parched lips satisfied by water from the rock (Exodus 17:5-6). No one had ever seen, heard, received, or experienced what they had; God showed Himself every day.

That said, now consider this; after all this Divine deliverance, protection, and provision they had the gall to question: “Is the Lord among us or not?” (17:7). How in the world could they ask such a question?

Before we shake our head and wag our finger, let’s do a little self-reflection. When the hot water tank goes out and the transmission needs to be replaced and the kid lies and you can’t remember the last time your spouse hugged you; have you wondered if God’s around?

From time to time, we lose perspective. We question God’s presence. This was Israel. A quick recap by them, however, would have shown otherwise. All the miraculous events of the first paragraph, beginning with the Ten Plagues and ending with Moses striking the rock, all occurred within a period of just a few months. It wasn’t as if they needed a long memory to recall God’s goodness to them; a short one would do. Likewise for us, when tempted to question God’s whereabouts, a short look behind will provide plenty of evidence: our salvation, our spouse, our home, our children, our health, our church and on and on it goes.

It’s just that when there is trouble with any (all?) of them (spouse, home, children, health, etc.); we immediately think God has left the building. He hasn’t. He may be just reminding us He is all we need; that if we have Him, we have everything.

It is silly to wonder if God is around. Look behind you and see what He has done; by faith, look ahead and wonder what He will do.