“25And 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, 26saying, ‘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 15:25-26 (ESV)
It is important to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. I see here in these verses the statute or commitment God made with the people of Israel. In this situation, the people were without good drinking water and as had been shown just before at the Red Sea, God delivered His people from the difficult, seemingly impossible situation.
God wants only the best for His people, us. He will make sure that we are taken care of as we make our way along the road He has for us. He has made a covenant to save us and will keep it. We have a part in the covenant as well as these things are not a one way street. My role is to trust Him and do what is right by Him. I have the duty to follow the lead of God in my life so as to do His work in this world. When I hold my end of the covenant, He holds His end and all is in concert for His work to be done and me to receive my protection.
I have to remember that He will protect me from the evil one in this world. And that is the commitment from God. He will deliver me, ultimately, from the persecution of the evil one, however I may have to deal with adversity none the less. When I compare the now to the Isaelites, I am reminded that they were delivered many years and generations later and that those times were not without their struggles and adversity. God however kept His promise and covenant. Those that kept their eyes on the Lord were protected from the evil one and rewarded with entrance into the promised land.
I have to be careful with my expectations of reward and not get tunnel vision and carried away by what my reward is or will be. The reward is not the reason for doing God’s work. Glorifying God is the reason for the work, but there is a byproduct that is pretty fantastic and that is heaven. In doing the work of the Lord, it is most important that I remember to do the work for Him and His glory with the known is that He will protect me from the evil one. That protection is different for each of us, and may not be exactly what we expect, but He will protect us so that we are able to complete the work He has for us.
What kind of difficulty have you experienced? Are you seeking some reward for enduring? What if we were to do the work of God, knowing that He has promised to protect us, what could we accomplish for Him with that mindset?
Trevor's Thoughts 