Fickle Followers

When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter…So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” (Ex 15:23-24)

This was exactly three days after the people of Israel watched God destroy the army of Pharaoh in the Red Sea – one of the greatest miracles of all time! The rapidity with which they went from rejoicing to grumbling is almost comical. Yet don’t I do just the same? My heart is also fickle. Their fickleness seems striking here because in this event it is writ so large. But on a tiny scale this happens every day in my life. I will be driving down the highway to work, happily singing along with some praise song on the radio. Then another car cuts in front of me. Instantly my resentment flashes and I shout, “Jerk!” Talk about turning on a dime! The truth is I, too, am greatly lacking in constancy. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about God’s constancy. I think this is another one of his communicable attributes – character traits in him that we should reflect as part of bearing the image of God. And now this story forces me to confront my own lack of constancy by first recognizing it in the ancient Israelites. Lord, help me to be steadfast in my faith and constant in my devotion. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Ps 51:10)