“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him”         Exodus 32:4

Sometimes, when I read about how the Israelites turned from God, seemingly at the drop of a hat, I am just amazed.  God performed miracles…MIRACLES, in their presence. I wouldn’t think that you could forget something like the parting of the Red Sea, or the plagues that were brought upon the Egyptians and not the Israelites, the water from the rock or the pillars of clouds and fire that showed them the way.  You would think that with the incredible things that they saw, they would be forever worshiping the One who rescued them from slavery.  But this group of people would always be slaves, slaves to their own nature.

Moses had been gone 40 days; granted a pretty fair amount of time, and the people didn’t know where he was.  So they went back to what they knew, idol worship.  They needed something to keep their eyes on, something tangible that they could see and touch.  So Aaron obliged them, and boy was God mad!  I can’t blame him really, and when I read these passages I think to myself, “How can they turn like that after all that He did for them, I would never do that.” And yet, don’t we?

As soon as something doesn’t go our way, we think God is absent, so we try to fix it ourselves.  When God doesn’t answer our prayers the way that we think he should, we deny his presence in our lives, and we lose faith.  We get mad at Him the first chance we get and forget all of the provisions that he has given us in the past, all of the gifts, the support in hard times and the unconditional love and promises that He has made concerning our futures.  God has every right to be mad at us for our lack of holding up our end of the bargain, for doubting His hand in our lives…yet, consistent with his nature, he is a forgiving Father and wants to give us good things if we will only trust in him.  Trust in His goodness. Trust in His love.  Trust in His provisions.  We may not get everything we have ever wanted or everything that we feel we deserve but God knows what is best for our lives, what we need to provide a happy future and His eternal grace.  Don’t lose hope, don’t lose faith, if you can’t see God’s hand, trust His heart!

With faith for our futures,

Lisa