Marcus Mecum - Divine Testing For Divine Healing
Exodus 15:22. "So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, they went out into the wilderness of Shur: and they went three days into 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 they called that place, Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, 'what shall we drink'? And so, he cried to the Lord: and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet, and then he made a statue and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them".
I want you to notice that God tests us. That's what my message is going to be about, "Divine testing for divine healing". He tested them, "And said, if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord thy 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 thee, which I have brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that heals you". Why don't you say that with me, say, "For I am the Lord who heals you". Verse 27, and we'll finish our reading. "Then they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees, so they encamped there by the waters".
Divine testing for divine healing. I want to remind you that God does test his sons and his daughter. God does not tempt us. The Bible is very clear that God does not tempt us, but he does test us. And the difference between tempting and testing many times is only found in the source of where the situation is coming from and the motive behind the source. The devil tempts us to destroy us. He tempts us to wound us and kill us, where God test us to reveal what is going on in our life, to show us our weaknesses, maybe even reveal our strengths. He shows us our vulnerabilities and he does all of that, he tests us in order to heal us. So, the devil tempts you to try to destroy you, God tests you in order to heal you.
And so, in this particular text we read about a very particular test that we're going to go into over the next few moments. The story here is the children of Israel have just come out of Egypt. They were in the wilderness. Pharaoh changes his mind and he is pursuing them to re-enslave them and bring them back to Egypt. And you know the story. God opens up the Red Sea, he parts it, they walk across on the dry ground. The Egyptian army begins to follow after the Israelites and God allows those waters that he parted to swallow up the Egyptian army. This is a major point of victory for the children of Israel.
Moses' older sister, Miriam, grabs a tambourine and she begins to sing what's known as the very first song in your Bible in numbers 15. She begins to sing this song of worship and praise. They're clapping, they're celebrating, they're talking about the greatness of God, the strength of God, the saving power that God has. And as they're rejoicing, as they're celebrating, as their clapping and shouting, as they're having this revival service because of the major victory that God has, they're in the midst of a journey, and the Bible says they have no water. Day one goes by, there's no water. They're singing about how God is with them, how God is for them, how God has brought them through. The second day, there's no water.
Imagine, you're there with your children, your babies, the third day, there's no water. And finally, they look up and they see this beautiful body of water and they start to run towards it. And when they get there to go drink from the water, they cry out "Marah". Or, "It's bitter waters". It's an undrinkable water source. I want you to think about it with me for just a minute. Four hundred years of slavery is not only behind them, it's been completely swallowed up. It's over, it's finished. It's done. The end of generations of bondage has just occurred. They're excited, they're rejoicing, they're celebrating, the trial is over, the enemy is defeated. The threat is officially gone.
And as they talk about, and sing about, and celebrate that God is with them and that God is for them, and there's miracles everywhere that they look, they go to this place to get a drink of water after three days, and the Bible says, "It's bitter waters". They think that God's going to make everything better, but things get worse. Is there anything worse than you think the pain is over, you think the trial is over, you think the trauma is over, you really do. You think, "I'm on the other end of it". And you finally pull yourself back up to your feet, only to get knocked back down again. That was Marah for them. The Bible says in Proverbs that, "Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick".
And so, the people there, because of the sickness in their heart, they begun to complain and murmur. They're frustrated, they're angry, they're shaking their fist at Moses. And the Bible says, "God watching is not moved. He's not moved by their thirst, he's not moved by their frustrations, he's not moved by their murmuring and complaining". They're still there in the desert, they're still dehydrated, they're still under the blistering, hot sun. They're still dying of thirst, the water is still bitter there, and God is not moved by any of that. He is not moved by one thing that they're talking about, whining about, or complaining about.
And then, the Bible says, "Moses calls out to God". Moses cries out to God and is almost immediate, that it's like God leans down to listen. That's like he tells all of heaven, "Shh, stop. Be quiet. Moses is praying. Moses is talking to me about how he needs me. Moses is asking me to do something. Everybody be quiet. I need to listen to what my servant Moses is saying". Because God, in just the unique way that he is, is more moved by our need than he is by anything less and we come to him, and we say, "God, I'm gonna call on you. I'm to gonna curse people, I'm not gonna curse the situation. I'm not gonna curse the circumstance. I can whine and complain and be negative, but I know that that does not move God. What moves God is my faith. When I say, 'in spite of what I'm looking at, in spite of what I'm facing, I know I can call on God and he is attracted to my need'".
This last week, I was spending some time with God, and I enjoy doing that, for the most part every morning. And if you haven't been through 100 days of unbroken prayer, we'll do that gain soon, I hope. Just always a great time to reestablish our prayer life. And years ago when I did my first 100 days of unbroken prayer, one of the things that I was reading in Daniel was about how three times a day Daniel would open the windows in the upper room of his home and when he did this, this is what his enemies noted about him, is that three times a day, Daniel would thank God, and he would ask God for help. And every single day, three times a day, he would do this.
And so, when I go to my prayer place, I kinda open my windows of prayer and I begin to thank God. I begin to talk to him about the good things in my life and how thankful I am for all the wonderful blessings that he's given to me. And a lot of time, it's really good, and then the next day I'll comeback to that place and I'll go through those things again. And sometimes, I don't mean to be ungrateful about being grateful, but I'm kinda like, "God, I just, kinda, said these things yesterday. You know, I am thankful for 'em, I really am, but it doesn't feel heartfelt". And the Lord started to correct me and reminded me that Daniel does sit, did it three times a day. You're only doing it one time. And God begins to help me understand there's no such thing as overdoing gratitude. You can do too much of it. You can't exhaust it.
You cant be like, "Oh well, I just done it. I just been so grateful I just need to stop now". But God said, "Your problem is you're only thanking me for the good places. I want you to thank me for the bitter places too". And so, I started to go back in my mind to all these moments, all these places, I can remember then vividly. I can remember where I was sitting, I could remember what happened, I could remember what was going on an d stared to say, "Okay God, I thank you for that bitter place. And I thank you for that bitter place. And I thank you for that one, and I thank you for that one".
I thought that I was free from a lot of that stuff. I thought that you brought me out of Egypt to bring me into a Promise Land and I thought that it would just be smooth sailing sometimes but then all of a sudden I found myself there at Marah going to drink of waters that needed to refresh my soul, but in those places it was bitter waters. And I started to thank God for the bitter places, over and over and over because as I look back, what God was teaching me is he was there in the bitter places too. He wasn't just there in the blessed places, he wasn't only there in the good places, he's there in the bitter places too.
The Bible says, "God led them to the bitter waters". So, God not only leads us to the good places, God leads us to the bitter places too. Life is going to give every person in this room bitter waters. Maybe it's the dream that he's placed in your heart and all of a sudden, you begin to look at that thing, failing. Maybe never is going to happen and it's bitter waters. Maybe that marriage that you dreamed of, that you thought would be a refreshing source of strength o you life, you go to drink of it and it's bitter waters. Maybe it's the failures in your life that you look at. You thought you would be better, you thought you'd stronger, you thought you'd be wiser, but you look back at the failures and every time you try to have confidence, and every time you try to have this assurance before God, you look back at those things and it's bitter waters.
Maybe it's your health and your body. You just keep trying to get back up, but your body is not cooperating with you. Your physical body is just continuing to pull you back down. Maybe it's your children, it could be the business, it could be your own mind you look at, and for reason, you just continue to face bitter waters. Maybe rejoicing one moment, maybe showing up at church and services like this and saying, "God, I thank you for delivering me like Miriam. I thank you for the deliverance. I thank you for swallowing up the enemies in my", but the next second, you find yourself entering into a bitter water moment.
The Bible says, "God shows Moses an old tree". That he had planted right there beside those bitter waters before Israel ever got there. He said, "I want you to cut that tree down. I've prepared that tree for this moment in your life. I want you to throw it in th waters. I want you to carry it over and place it in those bitter places of your life". And the Bible says, "The tree splashes in those bitter waters and immediately the bitter waters turn sweet". Not only did they become drinkable, not only did the water become bearable, it became enjoyable. What if I told you that the healing that God wanted to do potentially even in this service, was so powerful, and would be so deep that not only could you go back to the bitter places and drink of it and grin and bear it and kind of like the bad medicine just kind just, coke it down, but you could experience such a healing in your life, that God will make the bitter place a sweet place in your life.
That God will make that situation that you've been through not only something that you endured, but you go back and you look at it and say, "I don't know how you've done such a work in my heart, but I thank you that even that place that was meant to destroy me and kill me and ruin me is a sweet thing to me". Sometimes, I feel a little off, almost like I've lost my mind because I look back at the things I thought would absolutely be the end and those are the sweetest places in my life today. I wish they would've never happened. I wish that I could wish them away. I wish that I could go back and change it and alter it and make it not apart of my story. However, God took the bitter waters, and he made 'em sweet.
The Bible says, "Here at Marah, God revels himself for the very first time as our healer. He announces to his people, 'i am the Lord who heals you'". And then he says, "No physical, none of the diseases, excuse me, of Egypt will come upon you". Now, not one physical disease is mentioned anywhere in Egypt or anywhere up to this point in their journey. You don't read about cancer, you don't read about leprosy, you don't read about heart disease, but you read about the emotional diseases. You read about frustration, and anger, and bitterness, and complaining. You read about the diseases of Egypt specifically.
You read bout how Pharaoh's heart was hardened. How his mindset was that other human beings are inferior or less than, and that you could use them to get what you want done in life. The Bible talks about how Pharaoh was vengeful, angry, temperamental, violent, confused, constantly plagued with indecision. One moment he'd say, "They could go," and the next moment he'd say, "No, they couldn't go". And God says to his people, "When you look at Egypt and you look at all of the diseases of Egypt, I want you to know that I've brought you to this place of divine testing, so you could experience divine healing. I am the Lord, your God, who heals you".
It is not the will of God for his people to walk around angry, violent, bitter, looking for revenge, having a need to get even. It is not God's will for you to walk around bitter and in unforgiveness. It is not the will of God for you to walk around constantly magnifying your enemies and your critics and all the things that are working against you. No. God says, "I ma your healer, and I want to heal your heart of al of the diseases of Egypt. I wanna fill your heart with peace, I wanna fill your life with joy. Not that all that's not going on, but I wanna take those bitter places and make them sweet". And this is the key. You have to know that your destiny is not the bitter place.
The Bible is clear that right around the corner, God had 12 wells of fresh water, he had 70 palm trees. I'm gonna paint this with you for just a minute. Seventy palm trees, coconuts, pineapples, hammocks, virgin pina coladas. The only way for them to reach that place was they had to overcome the bitter waters. Divine healing came when they passed divine testing. Years ago I heard a story of a old Catholic bishop that was called to minister to the leper colonies in India. And he was at this particular leper colony, and he was ministering to all those that were there and he had this gold necklace around his neck, and that gold necklace fell off and landed in the womb, the wound of one of the lepers.
And he looks down at that wound with the gold cross sitting there and he thinks to himself, "There's no way I could grab that cross again because if I grab the cross, I have to touch the wound". And immediately, God spoke to him and said, "If you want the cross in your life, you have to touch the wounded places". That the cross was never designed to be around our neck, or on building, or on a stage, or in a church, or on a coffee table, or on a picture. The cross was designed to go to the wounded places in our life. And the Bible says that, "Moses took that tree and he threw it in the bitter pace, and it became sweet".
Can I remind you that 2,000 years ago, God gave us all a tree. A tree that Jesus bled, and he died on. A tree that he went and he paid a price for us so we could be healed body, soul, and spirit. So, we could be healed in our minds, so we could be healed in our emotions, so we could be healed in our relationships for he is he go who heal you. And maybe you know him as Savior, and maybe you know him as a God in some ways, but you just carry around the wounds. You carry around the bitterness, you carry around all those things, and you've never allowed the cross to get out from being around your neck, and you've never allowed the cross to touch the wounded places.
But God is a healer. And God does not just save you so you can stay wounded, he saves you, and any tests that you've been through, is the evidence that God wants to heal you. Even in this service today, I believe God's gonna introduce himself as your divine healer. You've been burdened, you've been bitter, you've been broken, you've been discouraged, but in Jesus' name, "I am the Lord, you God," this is what his word says, he says, "I am the Lord, your God, who heals you".
Can we stand up on your feet? I've asked the worship team to come and help me sing for just a moment. And I want us to sing this song over the wounded places in our life. I want us to sing this song over the broken places of your life. Can you just lift up your hands right where you're at and say, "God, I receive divine healing in Jesus' name".