Thursday, January 21, 2016

Provision and Ungratefulness (Bible Study by Beth Moore)

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Provision and Ungratefulness

In week 2, day 3 of A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place, we study about God’s provision and the ungratefulness demonstrated by the Israelites. Our first reaction might be, “Are you kidding?” He brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery, and you complain?” But do we not do the same thing? Do we not often demonstrate the same attitude of ungratefulness? Are we not sometimes ungrateful for our circumstances even after God brought us out of worse places?

So far, we’ve learned about the Israelites journey through the desert areas of Shur where they were delivered from the Egyptians through the Red Sea, Marah where God turned their bitter water into sweet refreshment, and Elim where they were brought to water springs and date palms. You would think the Israelites would reveling in appreciation and gratefulness.

However, now they are brought to the land of Sin. That’s what it is called, Sin. By the time the Israelites reach the land of Sin, the whole congregation is demonstrating an attitude of ungratefulness. The people complain to Moses. They tell Moses that they would rather be back in Egyptian bondage where they would eat well, rather than be led through the wilderness with “only manna.”

Imagine that God has quenched your thirst and provided you with fresh bread after going days without food and water. He continues to feed you with cold water and fresh bread for days, weeks, and maybe even months. Without God’s provision, you would have died, but He has provided this for you. After a while you grow tired so you complain to God. This is it?! This is all I get?! I would rather be back where I was. I’m so tired of drinking only water and eating only bread every day. I want to go back!

Hard to imagine? But it’s what the children of Israel did and it’s what we do all the time.

My favorite Beth Moore quote from this part of this study:

In the wilderness of sin, God set a test before His children. In essence, He responded to their grumblings like this: “I have shown you My presence again and again. I have intervened on your behalf with signs and wonders. I have healed your bitter water and have led you to the palms. I have also let you go hungry so that you would know that it is I who feeds you. Now I will put you through the hardest test of all: I will let you grow accustomed to My presence. I will feed you from My table daily and prove who you really are. Will you grow in awe or will you grow cold? - Beth Moore

When God provides for us daily for a long period of time, will we remain grateful or will we grow tired of His provision and resort to ungratefulness?

To reap the benefits of Beth Moore’s entire Bible study, A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place, get your copy here.

Read all posts in this series here.

If you're doing the study by yourself or hosting it, you'll need the leader kit which contains the DVDs. You can get that here.