“I’m not at maximum comfort!” shouted a voice from the backseat.  We had just returned to the car, started the engine, with the air conditioning running.  But because the car was not cold in nanoseconds; she felt the need tell her driver the problem—loudly.  Our young daughter had learned to read the words under the buttons of our vehicle’s climate controls and felt something needed to be done and be done now to cool her warm body.  The other two of our three children chimed in with, “We’re dying of heat and we’re thirsty, too!”  I laughing now, but back then, I was hot and bothered by their whine!

I think of this moment in my memories of raising kids as I read the next passage.  God’s kids are, well, kids in their growing faith God, their Provider all they need on their journey in the desert.  God has freed His people from Egyptian slavery with Moses, Aaron with sister Mirium as the worship leader leading them.  God’s kids are fed manna in the morning and quail meat at night.  Every day.  But now they cry out; “we’re dying of thirst, Moses, what are you going to do about it?”  We can hear the grumbly whine of their voices.  But wait, don’t judge too quickly.  We, too, are a grateful, loving-God-back-people, until we are not a maximum comfort in our lives, right?!  God proves daily that He is indeed with us and sees all we need—most times before we know what we need!

Exodus 17

Water From the Rock

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”

³ But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶ I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The Amalekites Defeated

⁸ The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

¹⁰ So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. ¹³ So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”

¹⁵ Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. ¹⁶ He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“He looked beyond my faults and saw my need.”  This line from an old hymn comes to mind as I think about how whiny we are as believers of God.  We are spoiled by His goodness, provisions, help in times of trouble, peace in the middle of the storms, along with consistent rescue from our failures, sins, and shortcomings.  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” writes Paul, the Apostle who helped church groups all over the region know God for who He is and what He has done to save us.  Paul taught that we must repent in Jesus Name for our whiny, grumbling words and subsequent sinful behaviors that break God’s heart—within and beyond the church. 

But God—God never gave up on His people then and He doesn’t give up on us now.  He looks beyond our faults as imperfect humans and gave us His Perfect Son to save us with perfect forgiveness for our sins that separate us from Him.  There is no one like our God!

If on this day you are looking for something to be grateful for to God—this is it!  Salvation came at a cost; but God thought you and I and everyone else in the world was worth the cost. 

We need each other and God knows that, too.  We need to hold up the arms of our tired leaders dedicated and anointed by God to do what He says for our good and God’s glory!  How precious is the act of the elders who held up the arms of Moses until Joshua, led by God, defeated the enemy!  Moses was certainly not at “maximum comfort” in this effort; so God provided helpers until the battle was won.  Let that sink in…

Lord,

Thank you for saving our souls, making us whole, teaching us your ways, picking us up when we fall, while looking beyond our faults to give us Jesus. Thank you, Jesus for all you did to set me free.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

 Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise
For it was grace that brought my Liberty
I’ll never know just why he came to love me so

… He looked beyond my faults and saw all my needs
I shall forever lift my eyes to Calvary
To view the cross where Jesus died for me
And how marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul
He looked beyond my faults and saw all my needs

… I shall forever lift my eyes to Calvary
To view the cross where Jesus died for me
And how marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul
He looked beyond my faults and saw all my needs

(Songwriters: Dottie Rambo; He Looked Beyond My Fault lyrics © Designer Music, New Spring Publishing, Inc., Tomorrowland Music)