Stress Test Devotional May 25
May 25, 2024
EXODUS 16:1-3 | 1 The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
EXODUS 17:3-4 | 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
Joshua also learned from Moses that good leaders are mediators, standing between God, the ultimate guide and director, and a group of people. Leaders need to invest in their own spiritual lives in order to represent God to their charges. They also need to represent their sometimes wayward and obdurate flocks to God. In Moses’ frustration we hear the difficulty of this task. But by entering into it whole-heartedly Moses is experiencing the Father- frustration God has with all of us, when we are resistant or unbelieving or overly confident in our limited judgements. He begins to experience the divine patience. The story of Israel is the greatest and most revelatory story in the history of humankind, but it took committed and patient leadership. Moses pastored 40 years in the wilderness.
All of us are mediators for someone. Who are you praying for? Are you bearing the burden patiently?
