[Note: I wrote this post in the fall (but never posted), long before we discovered our new development. He is ever working good in our hearts.]
So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.
There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:22-26**
He cried out to You and You showed Him a tree. This, thousands of years before You hung, limp, on another.
For what is complex to a man, is simple in You. Healing is at Your fingertips … even of the water.
You turn the bitter, sweet. You fill up my pasty, parched mouth with waters that don’t simply water me, but they go down smooth. There is always a way in You.
When the clouds detain rain and the earth and its people crack under thirst, all You ask for is a cry. We seek You and You respond. You are the God of healing waters, always available.
I adore You, creative Father, who invites me to hold up a tree and cast it into the water and watch Your wonders. Moses participated. The grand story included his story. Healing was incited by man seeking and God responded in one cyclical event. Your glory didn’t shoot out of the sky and turn the black waters white; it came through a tree.
Is it always a man’s hand, wrapped around a tree, that shows the world Your love which enfolds Your people into their own love story?
I adore You, Father who engages me, just like You engaged him. I worship You, God who hears me and points to a tree. I praise You that no bitter need persist forever in You.
You use the unlikely and make the formerly-impossible into a familiar anecdote.
Your story is his story is my story. You own this glorious story … and for this, I adore You.
**So what do I do with these posts, you ask, other than just read them? First, if you haven’t yet, read: Why I Adore and Morning Chai, Explained to give you a context for this little space on my blog.
If you are so compelled, I invite you to participate. Set up a space and time in your own life to begin adoring. Over laundry or dinner dishes, on your commute to work, or in the wee morning hours — five or ten minutes is a great start. You can use the verses I list here every day or two as a launch pad for your own adoration. (Showing Up gives you some practicals.)
Then practice praise.
I promise your weary soul won’t regret it.
Below is our April Adoration prayer guide, thanks to Mandie Joy who took the chicken-scratch from my moleskine journal and made it pretty. It’s never too late to start looking up — I invite you to join in as we adore Him, the God of hope.
And, for those of you following us on instagram — sweet Mandie Joy has just started creating adoration instagrams for each day we’re adoring. This girl is amazing!
***You can easily subscribe to these devotional meditations as they are delivered, by using this feed: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/chai or by entering your email address in the second box on the right-hand side… (scroll up a bit)
Additionally, all of the Morning Chai Posts can be seen, in the order of posting, by clicking here or adding this address to your reader: http://EveryBitterThingisSweet.com/posts/chai
First photo compliments of Mandie Joy. Second photo compliments of Cherish Andrea Photography.
