Numbers 20-21

"2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD!"

I get it. Being thirsty is hard. Water is kind of important for staying alive, and we can all get a little cranky when we’re on the verge of death. But still - it would have been better to have died off? Isn’t that a little overkill?

"5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place?"

Why couldn’t we have just kept doing the whole slavery and forced labor thing? Those good old days…

At this point God was thinking “Seriously? Did you see what I tried to give you? You think I called you out of the darkness and set you free so that you could die of dehydration in the wilderness? I had so much more prepared for you...”

And He still loves them and supernaturally provides for them. Despite their rebellion. Despite their bad attitudes.

Even Moses seems to be at his wit’s end, and disobeys the command he was given by addressing the people instead of the rock and tapping the rock twice instead of once. If we ever finding ourselves doubting whether God is a one tap kind of God or if He needs two taps to bring forth water from a rock - it probably means we need a good drink.

When I think about times in my life that I have gone through a period of trial and pain, I remember feeling the same kind of despair seen by the Israelites in their thirst. During that time of struggle my weakness is fully revealed, as I find myself thinking the same pathetic things as the thirsty Israelites. Woe is me, that I would have to endure such misery! A tough day at work, a sleepless night, bills to pay...would it not have been better for me to die?

Like the Israelites, this despair and misery comes from failing to grasp the big picture - the end goal behind the trial. Being thirsty is hard. Sometimes life is hard. But the grand plan that is being worked out in every one of us makes those trials seem inconsequential in light of the glory that is at hand.