- Notes from Nathan
- Posts
- Exodus 17:1-2
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. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Our external conditions reveal our internal conditions.
On the one hand, the Israelites’ thirst was literal. They were dehydrated there in the desert. Conversely, their quarrelsome ways indicated parched and thirsty souls. They were in need of living water that would sustain them - regardless of their surroundings.
It’s still the case today.
The state of the soul is correlated to the source of its refreshment. We see some people living in surplus, but still miserable. And we find some people lacking resources, yet full of joy.
The grace of the wilderness is that it unearths and unmasks what we often try to cover up: exactly what (or who) we’re relying on to quench our deepest thirst.
Heavenly Father, as we navigate the deserts of our lives, guide us to the living waters of your spirit. Quench our deepest thirsts and heal our quarrelsome hearts, that we may point others to you as infinite source of refreshment. Amen.