It only took them three days to forget the amazing things God had done for them. Remember, He had sent terrible plagues on their captors, who had thrown them out of the land of Egypt. He had guided them by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day, so there could be no misunderstanding about where they should go (Exodus 13:21-22). He had placed the pillar of cloud between them and the pursuing Egyptian army to protect them (14:19-20). And then He had led them through the waters of the Red Sea, while drowning the soldiers that tried to capture them (14:28-29).

Oh, they had complained about their difficulties before. When the Egyptian army came after them, they had told Moses they would rather serve the Egyptians than die in the wilderness (14:12). But once God delivered them, they sang His praise for His glorious power (15:6). They confidently predicted God would lead them into the land He had promised them (15:17).

But after just three days went by (15:22), God brought them into a desert place where the only water to drink was bitter. And they forgot everything God had done for them. Just three days after He had parted the Red Sea for them, their confidence in Him vanished and they began grumbling and complaining (15:24).

Are we any less fickle? Hasn’t God protected us and blessed us so many times in the past? But don’t we all tend to lose faith whenever the next crisis comes along? Don’t we tend to let the urgency of our present problems override our confidence that God can and will help us? Don’t we forget all too easily the marvelous things God has done for us?

But the good news is that, even though the people lost their faith, God remained patient and kind. He made the bitter water sweet for them (15:25). And He eventually led them to Elim, a place of abundant water and shade (15:27).

So, whatever challenges we may face today, we can be confident that, in His way and in His time, God will deliver us too. That’s just the way He is, so why go on doubting and complaining? Doesn’t it make more sense to trust in His unconditional love?

Exodus 15:22-27 (ESV)

22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
25 And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,
26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.