The Lord Who Heals
DAY 38 WRITTEN BY: VICTORIA SCHNEIDER-
Exodus 15:26
If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, 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.
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Less than three days after the Israelites witnessed great victory over the Egyptians and the Lord parting the Red Sea, they face a problem: no fresh water. What started as worship wilts into worry and grumbling. They come to a place of bitter water, called Marah, where the bitterness of their hearts is revealed.
Just seventy-two hours after moving an entire sea, they doubt God’s power to provide. Instead of turning to God, they grumble. Moses, however, takes this to God, who responds with gracious blessing. Not only does He heal the water but also makes it 'sweet.' God goes beyond making the water fresh; He makes it satisfying. Here, we see a glimpse of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, where Jesus tells her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The Lord then tests them to listen and follow His voice, keep His commandments and statutes, and He will keep them from the diseases that plagued Egypt. They will experience a full 'sweet and satisfying' relationship with Him - Jehovah Rapha - The Lord who Heals. Then He blesses them even further as He takes them to Elim, the desert oasis with twelve springs for the twelve tribes.
This test from the Lord for the Israelites is the beginning of drawing them out of the slavery and bondage they once knew, leading them in the joy and full trust of the Lord. He is in the process of revealing His character to them, a God who provides, brings life more sweet and abundant than desired, and a God who brings healing to their hearts and bodies. We all have or are experiencing a Marah - a bitter season in this life. We have the choice to respond to it in trust and joy in the Lord instead of bitterness and striving. The Lord is a God who heals us of all our spiritual diseases. We experience this partly in our salvation on earth. And for those of us who partake in that living water, we will one day partake in full glorified healing.
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Father, you are our healer. You bind our wounds and heal our broken hearts. Help me to trust who you are, to rest fully on your character and promises. May I look at the Marah or bitter situation in my life now and lean into what you are trying to teach or grow in me. Help me to give these things over to you as I wait for abundant and full healing in eternity. Amen.
