Kerry Shook - Blessed In The Test
Chris and I got hooked this year on the Netflix reality show "Alone". How many of you guys have seen "Alone"? They take these survival experts and they train them how to use video equipment, 'cause they got to film themselves, and then they drop each of them individually in different places in the Arctic, and they have to survive. They have to build a shelter to protect themselves in subzero temperatures. They have to forage and hunt for all the food they get. They have to protect themselves from wild animals. I mean it's a test of survival. And inevitably, they're one or two that aren't prepared for the wilderness. And they tap out right away after the first week. But also there's always one or two that don't just survive the wilderness, they thrive in the wilderness.
I mean they love it. I mean, they'll stay there for months before they finally have to tap out. But it is a test of survival. And real life, it can feel like a test to survival. Maybe today you feel like your life is a survival test, because you feel like problem after problem keeps coming into your life, and you're just trying to survive in the wilderness of life. Just trying to survive another day and you're in a wilderness of worry, you don't know if you're gonna make it through. I've got good news for you today. God allows us to go through the wilderness of life, to build our faith and prepare us for our purpose. What God is doing in your life, if you're walking through the wilderness of life right now, and problem after problem is coming your way, God is just building your faith and he's preparing you for your purpose.
That's why we're starting this faith building series that I'm calling "The Wilderness Survival Guide". Because God wants you not only to survive the wilderness of life, he wants you to thrive in the wilderness of life. And so today we're gonna look at the children of Israel in the wilderness, because God gives them a wilderness survival guide that he wants to give you today. So would you open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 15 and would you stand in honor of God's Word Woodlands Church and just follow along with me. "Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur, and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter; for that reason it was named Marah.
So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?' Then he cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. Then he, God made for them a statute and a regulation, and there He tested them. And He said, 'If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and listen to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord am your healer.' Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms and they camped there beside the waters". You can be seated.
Now I want you to focus on that phrase "There He tested them". For the people of Israel, the wilderness was just a test of their faith to prepare them for the promised land. And life on this earth is a test. Life here on this earth is just a test to prepare us for the promised land, eternity. If you don't understand that all of life here on this earth is just preparation for eternity, then nothing in this life is gonna make sense. You're gonna be very confused. You're gonna be very frustrated, you're gonna be very disappointed. If you don't understand that everything in this life, on this earth, is a test preparing you for eternity. And God uses two tools to build our faith. God's Word and problems. The Word and the wilderness.
Now I like the first one a lot better. I'm like God, I think I'll just spend time in your Word and you can build my faith and maybe I won't need any problems, maybe I won't need to walk through the wilderness. Maybe just I'll focus on your Word, but God always uses both. He uses problems that come into your life and when you learn to depend on God in the middle of the problem, as you're walking through the wilderness, he builds your faith. And you get stronger in your faith. You learn to depend on God more and you find true fulfillment. Well, God always uses both and he did that for the Israelites to grow their faith and prepare them for the promised land.
You see, it's only an eight day walk from Egypt to the promised land Israel, but it took them 40 years. They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Why? They kept failing the test. In fact, God said at the very beginning that he was gonna take them the short way, but their faith wasn't strong enough to handle it. 'Cause they had to run into enemies they wouldn't have the faith to defeat. And so he knew their faith would've been decimated because they weren't strong enough in their faith and they hadn't learned to depend on him, so he had to take them the long way so he could prepare their faith for their future.
So that he could build their faith and prepare them for the promised land. And so he takes them in the wilderness, but they kept failing the test over and over again. So instead of going eight days straight to the promised land, it was 40 years. And most of them died out in the desert because they never learned to depend on him and allow him to build their faith. But God has taken you through the wilderness to build your faith. To prepare you for eternity. But here's the amazing thing that I really want you to get today. Yes, everything on this earth is preparing you for eternity, building your faith, growing your character, but you can be blessed in the test. You can be blessed in the test. You can learn how to survive and thrive in the wilderness.
The Israelites are trying to survive in the wilderness and they run out of water. A very important thing for survival in the wilderness and they go three days in the wilderness, they find no water and then they see this beautiful pool of water. It's a place called Marah and they taste the water and it's bitter, it's undrinkable. And so they become bitter and they find themselves stuck at this place of bitterness. You see God, wasn't allowing them to run out of water to test their physical survival skills, he allowed them to run outta water to test their spiritual survival skills, in order to teach them to depend on him, to build their faith. He wanted them to learn that he had come through for them if they would turn to him and their faith would be built they'd be ready for the giants in the promised land, that they had to take out. But I'm so glad God in his grace didn't leave them at this place called Marah which means bitterness, this place of bitterness.
Now the passage ends with God taking them to a place called Elim, which means the place of abundance, where there were 12 Springs, 70 Palm trees, there was water everywhere that was pure sweet water everywhere. So God takes them from a place of shortage, to a place of abundance. He takes them from a place of bitterness to a place of blessing. And maybe you feel like you're at a place of shortage today where maybe you're short on peace of mind, you're filled with anxiety, or maybe your finances are a little short right now and you're filled with financial worries about your future. And maybe you just feel short on hope today. You find yourself at this place of shortage when God wants to take you to a place of abundance.
And so we're gonna look at how God does that. If we cooperate with him, he wants to take you from Marah, the place of bitterness to Elim the place of blessing. But many times we get stuck in the place of bitterness. God wants you to be blessed in the test, but many times we get stuck in the place of bitterness and we never make it to the place of blessing. In Exodus 15:22, it says, "Then Moses let Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur". It's ironic that it was called the wilderness of Shur, when the Israelites were anything but sure about their future. I mean, they were totally uncertain about where they were heading, they just knew it was the promised land and they were totally unsure about what was coming next.
They felt like they were on shaky ground where everything felt uncertain and nothing seemed stable. They were always moving to a new place and so they were anything but sure, but God says, "This is the wilderness of Shur. And when you're in this wilderness, you may feel unsure, but I'm sure. I'm sure that I'm gonna see you through. I'm sure that I will take care of you each step of the way. I'm sure that I have a purpose and a plan for you in the wilderness, if you'll trust me".
And you may feel very uncertain today, maybe you feel like you're in the wilderness of unsure, but God says, "No, the wilderness you're in right now is sure". Because God says, "I'm sure that I still have a plan for you. I'm sure that I have a purpose for you. I'm sure that I'm gonna take care of you. I'm sure that I'm gonna provide for you and meet your every need because you may feel uncertain, but I'm certain. You may feel unsure, but I'm sure". It's a sure thing, God says. And so maybe you're walking through this wilderness of uncertainty and everything feels unsure. God says, "It's a sure thing when you look to me. I'm gonna take care of you, you can trust me".
Life is a test. But you can be blessed in the test. We're not in heaven yet, so you're gonna have problems, but God wants to bless you in the test. The Israelites then wander through the wilderness three days, they have no water, then they come to this beautiful pool of water, their hopes were boosted. And in verse 23, it says, "When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter; for that reason it was named Marah". So they're just about to give up, and they see this beautiful pool of water, and they thought it was a miracle. I mean, can you imagine they were so filled with hope they're gonna live. They think they're about to die in the desert and then they see this beautiful pool of water and they think it's a miracle. No, it's just Marah, bitterness. They taste the water, it's bitter, it's undrinkable, it's poisonous. They taste the water that's bitter and they become really bitter because they find themselves in the desert of disappointment.
Their hopes were so high and now their hopes were crushed. And whenever we get our hopes so high and we place our hope in something or someone other than God, they will be crushed. And that desert of disappointment can lead to that place of bitterness. I mean, when you really count on someone to come through for you and they let you down, you're disappointed and you get stuck in the place of bitterness. When you put all your hope in a human being to make you happy, and then they betray you, you're so disappointed, you get stuck in a place of bitterness. When you're looking to God to work in your life in a certain way that you've worked out, that you think is gonna be best and he doesn't work that way and he doesn't come through for you like you think he ought to come through, you get disappointed and you get stuck in a place of bitterness.
The desert of disappointment can quickly lead to the place of bitterness. And that's what happened with Israelites in verse 24, it says, "So the people grumbled at Moses saying, what are we to drink"? Now, the Hebrew word here for grumbled is gaguzal and it's like our word in English language for grumbled. It's an onomatopoeia which simply means that the word sounds like what it means. Grumbling sounds like grumbling. In fact, let me just prove it to you. I want you in a moment to say the word grumble as fast as you can 10 times, okay. I'll tell you when and this is a chance for all of you guys to get out all of the negativity, to get out all of your frustration, all of your anger. To get out of your mind, the Astros game last night, just get out of your mind all the pain, okay.
Fresh start today, this is your chance at church to just grumble and gripe and complain about everyone that you can't stand right here right now at church. I want you to say the word grumble as fast as you can 10 times. Now you're gonna do this aren't you? I'm not gonna be up here looking like a fool, the only one doing this, you're gonna do this. Say the word grumble 10 times really fast right now go. Grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble. Boy you guys went about 30 times. You had a lot to get out that's good. So you got it all out, now that sounded like grumbling to me. The children of Israel grumbled, that was their signature sin. And that is the signature sin for most of us, to be honest. Because we don't think it's very serious to God.
We think, "Oh, murder that's serious. Adultery is serious, stealing is serious. But griping, grumbling complaining being a little negative? I mean, that's no big deal is it"? Well it's a big deal to God. And here's why. You see in the next chapter, chapter 16, after God had met their needs and given them water, they start griping about the food. You know, they start griping about God's menu that he was giving them. And really they start griping to Moses, "Why don't you, you know, get us something better to eat Moses". And Moses says something very powerful in verse 8 he says, "Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD".
Moses said, when you guys grumble about me and my leadership and Aaron and I and our leadership team and our leadership, you're really grumbling against God because God's the one who appointed us and you don't like God's decision. Whenever I grumble and complain about my circumstances, really I'm grumbling and complaining about God because he's all powerful, he could change my circumstances. Whenever I grumble and complain about some other person that doesn't treat me well, that I don't like very much, then I'm grumbling and complaining about God, because he's the one that's allowed it 'cause he could have stopped it.
And so really when I get bitter towards someone for hurting me, when I get bitter about my circumstances and gripe and grumble complain, really I'm griping and grumbling about God and I'm actually saying, "God, you're not very good at being God. I think I could be God better than you can be God, because I would've done it totally differently and so this is really bad God, and you can't even recognize it. You're not a very smart God. I mean, you're not very good at being God". That's really what I'm doing when I'm griping, grumbling and complaining because it all comes back to God. Whenever I get bitter, really I'm bitter toward God but I just don't like to admit that, you know. We're too spiritual to admit that we're really bitter toward God, but that's why it's such a serious sin. It's like a slap in God's face to say, "God, you're not doing a good job".
And we're not even man or woman enough to come before him and admit that when he knows that's in our hearts and so that's why bitterness blocks blessing. That's why grumbling, griping and complaining blocks blessing. And some of you today, God is waiting to bless you. He wants to bless you in the test, but you are griping, grumbling and complaining and so God can't do it, it blocks God's blessing. And when you start thanking God in advance, it starts opening up God's blessing in your life. You see the whole point is that God wants to bless you. God tests you to bless you. That's the point. God tests you to bless you. We think when God's testing us, it's because he hates us, it's because he's trying to punish us. No, God tests you to bless you, but he can't bless you unless you stop griping, grumbling and complaining and allow him to teach you how to trust him more.
So you can be blessed in the test. And this is where you have the choice this is a powerful choice, you can get bitter or better and the choice is yours, and the difference between bitter and better just one letter, I. I've gotta make that choice, I've gotta choose to take that turn in the test. And we see it in James 1:2 it says, "Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing".
So in the test, if I can just take a twist and go, you know what? This doesn't feel joyful, this doesn't feel very good, but I'm going to turn and consider it joy. That this test has come into my life, that I am walking through the wilderness, I'm gonna take a twist and I'm gonna take a turn and I'm gonna see that the reason God tests me is to bless me. Not because he hates me not to punish me, but he wants to bless me and I've got to walk through this Marah to get to Elim. I've got to walk through this place of shortage to get to the place of abundance. I've got to walk through this place of bitterness to get to this place of blessing and God knows it's the only way I can get there. And so God tests me because he wants to bless me.
And so thank you God that I'm going through this test I don't like it. I don't want it, I want it to be over with, but thank you God that I'm going through this test because you wanna bless me. Look at verse 25. We see Moses, everybody else was griping or grumbling to everyone else, but Moses, he cries out to God. It says, "Then he Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters and the waters became sweet". So God shows Moses a tree and he throws it in the water, and instantly the water's purified. It becomes sweet it goes from bitterness to sweetness instantly.
Now I find it really interesting that the survival tool that God used to work the miracle, was that tree and that tree had been there the whole time. But Moses didn't see it until he cried out to God and he prayed. And usually we look for a miracle outside of God and there's nothing outside of God. And we have to look to God because he encompasses it all but we start trying to look for other things other than God, we look to everyone else, we think the miracles outside somewhere when, if we'll look to God, usually he opens our eyes to see the miracle is right under our nose the whole time. The answer to our problem was right there the whole time we just can't see it until we cry out to God. He cried out to God and he found the miracle was right there under his nose.
The tool that God wants to use, to provide for you, to meet that need is probably right there. Right next to you but you just don't see it, because you're not crying out to God you're grabbing to everyone else. And so when you cry up to God, he opens your eyes to see that the miracle is right under your nose. And so he throws the tree into the water and the tree is a powerful foreshadowing of the tree, the ultimate tree that God used to take away all of our sins, and shame, and bitterness, and guilt, the cross. Christ's death on the cross takes away all bitterness and brings about blessing. And some of you are holding onto bitterness right now. You are really holding onto bitterness because someone hurt you in the past and they hurt you deeply.
And some of you are thinking "Pastor Kerry, you don't understand how I was hurt. I mean, it was evil, it was so wrong. I've been hurt so deeply". And you're holding onto the hurt and it's turned into bitterness and it's only hurting you now. And God says we're to forgive, why? Not for other person's sake who hurts you, but for your own sake because Christ commands it and because until you learn to release the hurt, until you let go of the resentment, then the bitterness, the bitter waters of resentment just flows through your veins and it poisons your whole life, your current relationships, everything around you so what you have to do, is choose to forgive, even though you don't feel like it.
Say, "God, I don't feel like it but I choose to forgive for my own sake because you command it, and I need your sweet waters of blessing and healing to come into my life, and heal my life and I give you that person you deal with them, but I choose to forgive". You do that, and healing waters will flow into your heart and all the bitterness will flow out, but you gotta choose to do that and take that turn. Stop struggling and rest in the test. In Exodus 15:26, God says this, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD who heals you".
God is a healing God and he says, "Even in the wilderness, I can heal you". In fact, it's in the test that God does his greatest healing work in our lives, in our bodies, in our hearts, in our minds. It's in the wilderness, where God brings about the greatest healing. And if you're walking through the wilderness, just know you're in a place of healing. This is the God who heals you but what is he saying? He's saying just take the next step and obey my Word, spend time in my Word, follow my Word, do what I say whether you feel like it or not, whether it makes sense or not, but I want you to look at this last verse, verse 27. It says, "Then they came to Elim where there were twelve Springs of water and seventy date palms and they camped there beside the waters".
Now Elim was this place of abundance because they'd been in the desert, there was no water then they get to bitter water and then God brings them to Elim where they're 12 Springs of purified sweet water, there's just water everywhere, and there was no shade, and now they get to a place where there's 70 Palm trees there's all this shade. They were at a place of total shortage and now they're at a place of abundance. They were a place of bitterness now they're at a place of blessing, but here's the thing, Elim is just five miles from Marah and they almost gave up at Marah.