Today I had a privilege to hear a very special message in church today that inspired me to hang on a bit longer. I hope it helps you as it helped me today. When you feel like giving up, when life deals you "Marah" or bitter waters, hang on because God will show you where your tree is to make those waters sweet:
Bro Barker Exodus 15:19-25
The children of Israel had just crossed over the Red Sea. They had watched Pharaoh's army drown in the Red sea. They realized that God was not going to bring them out of Egypt just to let them be slaughtered in front of the Red sea but God would let them cross over on dry land. They had celebrated and been thankful for what God had done for them. Revival had broke out in the camp of the Israelites. Things looked good! Then as they traveled onward toward the Promise land, they came upon some waters. To come upon waters, they must have been thirsty. For them to find the waters they must have been searching for a drink of refreshment. They were in need of refreshment. But they only found bitter waters. When they needed some water to quench their thirst all they found was bitter water. What is bitter water? Its when everyone else is being blessed and you are not. When other families are coming to God and you alone stand on the promises of God while your family remains lost in the world. Its when your marriage is dead, when you have served God for years and your husband/wife continues on their path of destruction. Its when the doctor tells you there is no hope. When your children continue to live lives of sin. Bitter waters are when life deals you blows that at this moment of your life, you just don't think you can handle. Its when you are already thirsting for a drink from God to satisfy your burning soul because life is treating you hard. Then when you find the water, its bitter. Life seems that it is all smooth sailing for a period of time. You celebrate and thank God for circumstances working out better than you had planned. But then life happens. Things get out of control and you deal with hardship. You try to survive the wilderness. As you are surviving you then come across "Marah" or bitter waters. We ask God "why?" Maybe its because we tend not to pray enough or to study His word enough when things are okay. Maybe God wants to prove us because He has big plans for our future and He needs to prepare us for our journey through the rest of the wilderness to get to the Promised Land. So what do we do when we reach Marah? God has a plan. God has planted a tree in the wilderness. He not only planted it in preparation for us arriving to Marah but he has assured that tree would survive and flourish while God waited for us to arrive. God waits for us to say "God, I need you!" When we call on Him, He then shows us our tree. He tells us that tree He has provided and prepared for us ahead of time is now ready to be used in our life. That tree is our escape from the bitter water. If we use His tree it will turn our bitter water into a sweet experience. In the middle of our bitter water, there is already a tree planted for our deliverance. The seed was planted and watered. If I just hang on to the promise of God, He has made a way out. When the enemy tells us there is no hope, tell him "I have a tree." God is preparing me to use me like He has never used me before. He is preparing me for adversity ahead and wants to know if I can handle a little bit of bitter water. God will not leave me nor forsake me. My bitter water experience is about to get sweet. The only tree that could survive this type of wilderness climate is the Elvah tree. Which is also known as the dogwood tree. The irony in this is the cross was made out of the dogwood. So this tells us that God was showing the Israelites and His children will come to places where we need His help and He will not leave us but will always provide us a way out.
I am encouraged that soon God will show me where to find the tree. And all I have to do is put the tree in the midst of my "Marah" and they will become sweet. I just have to hang on and God will do provide...soon.
