In the story of the Exodus, the children of Israel witnessed so many miracles during the days leading up to their release from Egypt. They experienced the plagues and the eventual release from captivity - with their captives giving them their precious valuables as they departed. Even as they fled their oppressor's whips, they experienced even more wondrous miracles. Who could ever forget the tower of fire that shielded them from Pharoah's army or the escape through the parting of the Red Sea? And how can any of it be explained except as the great power of God?
Despite the miracles the children of Israel saw with their own eyes, it wasn't long before the grumblings began.
Even today, we are a lot like the Hebrews ... that's why the Exodus story is timeless. Take a look inside of yourself. Do you find yourself grumbling and wondering where God is? There are times when I do.
If you find yourself grumbling, reflect back onto times when God performed a miracle in your life. All believers have had such experiences, some more profound than others.
Maybe you received exactly what you needed at the very moment you needed it.
Maybe a prayer was answered.
Maybe there was a time when you heard God's whisper in your heart, giving you encouragement.
Such an encounter happened to me. During a seminar in church, I posed the seemingly frivolous question to my Heavenly Father: "If You and I were to play a game together, what would it be?"
His immediate response in my heart brought me to tears of joy and gratitude.
"Kim, I would play jump-rope with you. I would hold one end, and I would also hold the other end so you can be carefree and just jump."
I saw myself in my mind's eye as a little pig-tailed girl without the cares and burdens I carried at that time in my life, free to play and enjoy the presence of God.
I will never forget that experience. Even today, a decade later, when I begin to feel strapped down by neverending burdens and struggles, I remember that God wants me to be carefree. He wants to hold the ends of the jump-rope while I enjoy His presence.
If you are stuggling with life's challenges, recount God's past faithfulness to you, remember that He is God, and reestablish your closeness to Him through prayer and through His Word. He has done great things for you in the past, He is doing great things in you today, and He is not going to leave you ... ever.
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