“And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your Healer.” (Exodus 15:24-26, ESV).

Reading this passage a while ago, I was really struck by verse 25… Moses crying out to God and God showing Him a log (or tree)* that became the answer to his prayer, after he acted in accordance to this divine revelation. Interesting isn’t it?

For context, the Israelites had just been rescued from slavery under the Egyptians and were on their journey to the Promised Land. Following the rescue, they had a joyful celebration party where they sang praises to God, playing tambourines and dancing with delight at God’s incredible rescue (Exodus 15:1-22).

However, as Moses led them away from the Red Sea towards the desert of Shur, three days into the journey and it was a different story. They had travelled in the desert for three days without finding any water, and when they finally did find water, it was too bitter to drink. And so they began to complain, quickly turning against Moses, the one who had literally just rescued them from Pharoah and led them through the Red Sea.

To be fair to them, I can understand where they were coming from. I don’t know if I can survive that long without water, given how much water I drink on a daily basis. I remember going on a trip to a Moroccan desert. I booked a package which included dinner, and I naturally assumed this would at least include water. I mean, who provides dinner in a desert without water, right? Alas, my ‘natural assumption’ was wrong, and I remember feeling quite thirsty, and frankly a bit peeved. If I felt so thirsty in just one evening, I can’t even imagine what three days would have been like.

Nevertheless, while their thirst was understandable, could the same be said of their response? God had just performed this amazing miracle of parting the Red Sea. Did they not think that perhaps, maybe just maybe, this same God could provide His children with one of the most basic needs of life?

Thankfully Moses remembered the God he served and cried out to Him. Moses channelled His frustration at the situation through the tunnel of prayer. And how did God respond? God showed Moses a log; and when Moses threw this log into the water, it became good for drinking. This was the part that really struck me. After Moses cried out to God, God invited Moses to participate in the miracle by showing Him a piece of wood which would be the solution to their problem.

It got me thinking. When I pray, do I hear what God is saying I should do, and more importantly, do I take the step of obedience?

This passage not only reveals what works when we are faced with difficulties, but helpfully, it also reveals what does not work. Complaining, mumbling, turning against others (Moses in this case) clearly did not work. I would hazard a guess that if Moses had cried out and prayed without listening out for God’s response, that won’t have worked either. Similarly, if Moses had listened, but not obeyed what God asked Him to do, he would probably have continued crying and growing even more and more frustrated at the situation, the Israelites, God, everything and everyone around him in fact, while slowly dying of thirst. Still, there would have been no solution. This certainly strikes a chord for me, and makes me reflect on how I respond to challenges.

God, in His infinite wisdom, sometimes invites us, His children, to participate in the miracles He performs. He can certainly do miracles without us, but for much of scripture, this mode of Divine-human partnership is how God chooses to operate. Even when bringing His only begotten Son into the world, incredibly, He chose to partner with humans. Could God have caused Jesus to appear on some mountain somewhere on Earth, instead of coming through the womb of a woman? Sure, the Transfiguration, as recorded in Matthew 17 and Luke 9, demonstrates that. But He did not. Instead He sought, and continues to seek willing partners.

The key thing though, as we learn from the example of Moses, is to listen to His instructions and obey them. Right after the miracle of transforming the water from bitter to sweet, God says “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your Healer.”

This story demonstrates three clear steps. Ask, Listen, Obey. It sounds simple, and sometimes it may indeed be simple. However, there will be many times when it won’t. There will also be many times when it won’t be quick either, and we may have to take a considerable amount of time to fellowship with God, not just crying out, but listening.

Reading this, you might be thinking of times when God told you to do something, and you did not, possibly because it felt challenging, or it did not make sense to you. The thing is, God never promised we will always understand, He simply asks us to trust Him. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT) says “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Romans 11:33 (NLT) buttresses this: “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!” Proverbs 3:5 (CEV) tells us, “with all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment.”

Throwing a log into an oasis of water may not be our response to the challenge of purifying water, but that was what God asked Moses to do. I did wonder, as I reflected on this passage, where the log/tree came from. Given that they were in the middle of the dessert, chances are, they weren’t exactly surrounded by trees. As such, a tree or log would probably have been easy to spot. But God had to show Moses the log and make him understand that that was the solution to their problem. Did God perhaps put the tree/log there Himself? (In which case, He could just as easily have opened an oasis of clean water. But, as noted earlier, God likes to partner with us). If Moses had hesitated because the voice of his reasoning, or the voice of doubt was louder and more convincing than God’s voice, who knows what would have happened? Perhaps some may sadly have ended up dying of thirst. Thank God that Moses obeyed. It makes me wonder though, are there some blessings we are missing out on because of disobedience?

However, God is a merciful God, and our past disobedience does not mean all hope is lost. Even when we may have initially disobeyed, if we repent and are willing to obey, God gives us another chance. We see this illustrated in the story of Naaman, the Commander of the Syrian Army, as recorded in 2 Kings 5. God’s prophet, Elisha, told Naaman to go and wash himself in the Jordan River, and he angrily refused. Verse 11 records, “But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.” His response is probably what a lot of us wish God would do. ‘Please God, just wave your hand over the spot, or snap your fingers, or something that requires very little effort on my part.’

Naaman even has some other suggestions for God in verse 12. He basically says (and I’m paraphrasing), ‘if I really must wash in a river, then why not clean ones like Abana and Pharpar?’ Does this sound like something you’ve ever done? Offer God some better suggestions than whatever He is asking you to do? It seems almost ridiculous when I think about it, and we as humans probably won’t even tolerate that. Imagine someone asks you for money, and you tell the person to send their account details, but then they say, ‘no don’t send it to my bank account, come to my house and give me the cash.’ We would probably baulk at their brass neck and tell the person to take a permanent hike. Thank God that God is more merciful than we are.

Eventually, though, after Naaman’s huffing and puffing, when some of his servants reason with him, he obeys and subsequently receives his healing! In a sense, Naaman had come to God (via Elisha) with his request for healing, he had heard the instruction, but until he obeyed, his leprosy remained.

Have we prayed? Have we taken the time to listen? Is there something God is asking us to do first? Have we obeyed this? It may not always be the case that there is something we need to do. Neither will it always be the case that disobedience is the direct cause of us not receiving answers to prayers. But, there will indeed be times when that is the case, and we can only find out by crying out to God and listening to His response.

I pray that as we reflect on this, we will continue to humbly come before God in prayer, take the time to listen to His direction and partner with Him in obedience by acting according to His instructions. As we do so, may our prayers lead to demonstrations of God’s great power, yielding wonderful results, all for His glory. Amen and Amen!

*Other translations say a tree (KJV, NKJV, NASB, AMP), or a piece of wood (NIV, NLT).

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