The Israelites are really a blessed race. They are chosen by God to be the representatives of Him back then, and the entire race experienced God's deliverance time and time again. They walked through the Red Sea, they've tasted manna [which must be heavenly (pun intended)], drank the bitter-turned-sweet water in an oasis and they were led by God (pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night). And the best part is: they were to consecrate themselves just by washing their clothes (Exo 19:10)! How simple!
But even with these "first-hand" experiences, they failed to fear God repeatedly when their basic needs were not met.
"Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exo 14:11-12)
""If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." (Exo 16:3)
These were only a couple of complaints the Israelites made while they were in the desert after the exodus. They fell back to their old frame of thought, always thinking that the old way of life was so much "better". However, each time when their cries were brought to God, their needs were met. God loved them so much but they couldn't register it in their minds.
Am I, in any way, different from them? Freaking NO! I, too, always fall back to my old ways, holding dearly to the authority of my life, refusing God to reign in me. I've experienced, although in a much, much smaller scale, the miracles God has worked in my life, and yet, when was the last time I really counted my blessings? Like the Israelites, I would just lament and then present my "wishlist" to Him after my last one was fulfilled (or wasn't).
But is situation really that hopeless for me? Luckily (or should I say, blessedly), it's not all that hopeless. Despite the Israelites kept failing God, He still loved (and continue to love) them. And that, to me, means God will also love me for who I am despite my shortcomings and repeated failures (failing Him, that is; not the other failures I have.) Yes, this is a very fundamental theological issue, and yes, all new believers know this, but isn't this still a wonderful revelation of God, especially when we are spiritually "under the weather"?
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