Trials of the redeemed – a brief discussion

We're now going to read from God's Word, so if you can turn to Exodus chapter 15.

Exodus 15 · chapter mention

We'll start at verse 22, and we'll end at chapter 17, verse 7.

Then the Lord made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur.

They went three days into the wilderness and found no water.

When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter.

Therefore it was named Marah.

And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

And 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 a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying,

If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what 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.

Then they came to Elam, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees,

and they encamped there by the water.

They set out from Elam, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin,

which is between Elam and Sinai.

On the fifteenth day of the second month, after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

And the people of Israel said to them,

Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt,

where we sat by the meat pots, and ate bread for the full.

For you have brought us out to this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you,

and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them,

whether they will walk in the law or not.

On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in,

it will be twice as much as they gather daily.

So Moses and Aaron said to the people of Israel,

At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord,

because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord.

For what are we that you grumble against us?

And Moses said,

When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat,

and in the morning bread to the full,

because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him,

what are we?

Your grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord.

Then Moses said to Aaron,

Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel,

Come near before the Lord,

for he has heard your grumbling.

As soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel,

they looked towards the wilderness,

and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

And the Lord said to Moses,

I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel.

Say to them,

At twilight you shall eat meat,

and in the morning you shall be filled with bread,

and then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp,

and in the morning dew lay around the camp.

And when the dew had gone up,

there was on the face of the wilderness

a fine flake-like thing,

fine as frost on the ground.

And when the people of Israel saw it,

they said to one another,

What is it?

For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them,

It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

This is what the Lord has commanded.

Gather of it,

each one of you,

as much as he can eat.

You shall each take an omer,

according to the number of persons

that each of you has in the tent.

And the people of Israel did so.

They gathered,

some more,

some less.

But when they measured it with an omer,

whoever gathered much had nothing left,

whoever gathered little had no lack.

Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

And Moses said to them,

Let no one leave any of it till the morning.

But they did not listen to Moses.

Some left part of it till the morning,

and it bred worms and stank.

And Moses was angry with them.

Morning by morning they gathered it,

each as much as he could eat,

but when the sun grew hot,

it melted.

On the sixth day,

they gathered twice as much bread,

two omers each.

And when all the leaders of the congregation came

and told Moses,

he said to them,

This is what the Lord has commanded.

Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest,

a holy Sabbath to the Lord.

Bake what you will bake,

and boil what you will boil,

and all that is left over is to be,

all that is left over lay aside

to be kept till the morning.

So they laid it aside till the morning

as Moses commanded them,

and it did not stink,

and there were no worms in it.

Moses said,

Eat it today,

for today is a Sabbath to the Lord.

Today you will not find it in the field.

Six days you shall gather it,

but on the seventh day,

which is a Sabbath,

there will be none.

On the seventh day,

some of the people went out together,

but they found none.

And the Lord said to Moses,

How long will you refuse

to keep my commandments and my laws?

See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath.

Therefore, on the sixth day,

he gives you bread for two days.

Remain each of you in his place.

Let no one go out of his place

on the seventh day.

So the people rested on the seventh day.

Now the house of Israel

called its name Manna.

It was like coriander seed,

white,

and the taste of it

was like wafers made with honey.

And Moses said,

This is what the Lord has commanded.

Let an oma of it be kept

throughout your generations,

so that they may see the bread

which I fed you in the wilderness

when I brought you out

of the land of Egypt.

And Moses said to Aaron,

Take a jar

and put an oma of manna in it

and place it before the Lord

to be kept throughout

your generations.

As the Lord commanded Moses,

so Aaron placed it

before the testimony

to be kept.

The people of Israel

ate the manna

for forty years

till they came

to a habitable land.

They ate the manna

till they came

to the border

of the land of Canaan.

An oma is the tenth part

of an ephah.

All the congregation

of the people of Israel

moved on

from the wilderness

of sin by stages

according to the commandment

of the Lord

and camped at Rephidim.

But there was no water

for the people to drink.

Therefore the people

quarreled with Moses

and said,

Give us water to drink.

And Moses said to them,

Why do you quarrel with me?

Why do you test the Lord?

But the people thirsted

there for the water

and the people grumbled

against Moses

and said,

Why did you bring us

out of Egypt?

To kill us

and our children

and our livestock

with thirst?

So Moses cried to the Lord,

What shall I do

with his people?

They are almost ready

to stone me.

And the Lord said to Moses,

Pass on before the people

taking with you

some of the elders

of Israel

and taking your hand

the staff

with which you struck

the Nile

and go.

Behold,

I will stand before you

there on the rock

at Horeb

and you shall strike

the rock

and water shall come

out of it

and the people

will drink.

And Moses did so

in the sight

of the elders

of Israel

and he called the name

of the place

Massah

and Meribah

because of the quarrelling

of the people

of Israel

and because they

tested the Lord

by saying,

Is the Lord among us

or not?

This is God's word.

May he bless it to us.

Good morning, church.

How are you all doing?

Good morning.

Yeah, so

nice day outside.

Thank you all

to be here

and really appreciate

the opportunity

to be able to share

God's word

with you all

today again.

Yeah, I get a bit

emotional

every time I sing

this song.

I know I actually

asked for the song

and I don't know

why I did it.

Yeah, it reminds me

of a really tough time

that I had

when we were away

in the U.S.

and I was

studying

in a seminary

and

yeah, my wife

was suffering

from a lot of

health issues.

A little bit depressing,

you know,

leaving family

and friends

and everything behind

and

you know,

the Lord has provided

every day

and so if I start

crying during the sermon,

you know why.

Yeah,

why don't we pray

before we start?

Yeah.

Oh Lord,

you're just

so faithful.

Remember when I was young,

I felt like we'd

conquered a world.

Nothing bad

or that bad

really ever happens.

But Lord,

life is hard

that we thank you

that morning

by morning

you show

your mercies

to us.

And today,

Lord,

as we look

into your word,

may that same

mercy be with us

so that our hearts

are not hardened

and that your word

will change

our lives

today

and forevermore.

In Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Right,

so last week

Dave spoke

from Exodus

12 to 15

about how God

with his mighty hands

redeemed

the people of Israel

from slavery

by offering

through the blood

of Passover

the Passover lamb

and God destroyed

all the pursuing enemies,

the Egyptians,

in the Red Sea.

So when you read

chapter 15,

Exodus,

the first three quarters

of the chapter

describes how

the entire Israel,

like a million people,

were singing praises

to the Lord

and Miriam

and all the women

got out their instrument

and started dancing away.

It was like a great party,

the greatest party

the world has ever seen.

It was an amazing time,

happy times,

but great times

don't always last.

In today's reading

we see that

three days into the wilderness

and they ran into

some major,

major issues.

Imagine one million people

out in the desert

somewhere

with no water

and then they ran out of bread

and then they ran out of water again.

It's like, you know,

if some of you

heard of

or seen the images of

or been to

one of those

Taylor Swift concerts

or like a weekend concert

that had happened recently,

it's like 80,000 people

each time,

right?

We have 20 times

that people

but there's no lights,

no Wi-Fi,

no music,

no sound,

no nothing.

It was a disaster.

So what's going on here?

One minute

is celebration

and the next minute

everything is falling apart.

Across

Exodus 15, 22

to 17, 7

there's an account

of God

putting Israel

through a series

of three trials

just before

they got to Mount Sinai

to receive

God's covenant law.

So today

we're going to talk about

the trials

of the redeemed.

I call it

a brief discussion.

Why?

Because it's such

a huge topic.

So given the time

we have

we can only

scratch to service.

So if you believe

that God wants

Christians

to never suffer

but be materially rich

and healthy

and happy

all the time,

that's the prosperity

gospel in a nutshell.

I hope our passage

today

may show you

what the Bible

thinks of that.

and if you are

going through

some trying times

at the moment

whether it's

a difficult job

whether there are

some relational issues

at home

with spouses

or kids

whether there is

suffering

with your loved ones

with physical

and mental health

elderly care needs

and so on

my hope

and prayer

is that today's message

will comfort

and also encourage you.

If you have some

experience of trials

in the past

but everything

is a-okay

at the moment

I also hope

that this Bible

passage today

may help prepare you

for the next big one

because they do

and they tend

to come.

Today's sermon

will have two main sections.

Section one

is on understanding

trials

and then section two

is going to be

on responding

to trials.

Let's go into

section one

understanding trials.

In the Bible

there are different

types of hardships

that are highlighted.

Some hardships

are consequences

of our sins.

For example

David lost his child

born to Bathsheba

after he basically

committed adultery

with her

and had murdered

her husband Uriah.

You see that

in 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

And in 1 Peter 4

when Peter

wrote to the Christians

he said that

fiery trials

are given

to Christians.

Don't treat that

as a surprise.

But at the same time

do not suffer

as a murderer

or thief etc.

I told you

trials come right?

Yeah.

So if you rob

the bank

or drive recklessly

and end up

in jail

that is a consequence

of sin

which is not

our focus today.

And there are

other hardships

too.

We often

call trials

and they are

God ordained

not because of

any specific

wrongdoings.

God gives them

to his people

for a good reason

not to fail

or to break

anyone.

And we see that

in Exodus 15

22 to 23.

If you read

the verses here

it just says

that God

simply led

through Moses

Israel

into the wilderness

where there's

no water

to be found.

And when they

finally come

to some sort

of oasis

and they found

some water

the water

was not drinkable

it was bitter.

At that point

in time

have they done

anything bad

or naughty

or said anything

bad

that deserves

punishment?

In fact

over the last

couple of

verses

like the whole

chapter

before this

they were just

singing and

dancing and

praising God

for his

redemption.

And similarly

in Job 1

they also

record a

conversation

between God

and Satan

on Job

is to go

through some

serious trials

not because

he was sinful

but because

he was righteous.

He ended up

losing

what?

His wealth

his health

his kids

but God

allowed it

all for

good purpose.

Some might

say that God

kept his wife

as a punishment

but let's

not go there

for now.

This is the

kind of trial

or hardship

we will focus

on today.

God giving

trials to

his people

for a good

purpose.

And there

is another

kind of

hardship too

which is

neither of

the above.

Like in

John 9

there was a

blind man

who was born

blind.

Disciples

asked Jesus

why was this

guy blind?

His sins

or his

parents?

And what

did Jesus

say?

He was

neither.

He was

blind simply

to show

the works

of God

to bring

glory to

him.

So this

is not

the type

of hardship

we will

look into

either.

We will

leave that

for another

time.

Okay,

so why

does God

give his

people trials?

Why test

a person

through

hardship?

Well,

for a variety

of reasons.

First,

it's to

reveal,

which is in

your bulletin,

or prove

a person's

nature or

character.

In the

Exodus 15-17 story

today,

Israel proved to

be a rebellious

nation full of

people,

full of

resentment.

Three times they

lacked food and

water,

and what did

they do?

Three times they

grumbled.

Twice they accused

God of wanting to

mass murder them

by withholding food

and water,

despite his

saving grace.

in Exodus 16,

God told them

he would provide

them with manna

daily,

okay,

so do not

keep the manna

until the next

morning.

But what did

they do?

They disobeyed

and kept the

manna,

so it stank

and started

going wormy.

God also told

them to stop

gathering on

the seventh

day,

that is,

keep the

Sabbath to

the Lord,

and they went

out and

gathered.

Now,

keeping

Sabbath,

and in fact,

all of God's

command,

are God's

call to

his people

into sonship,

not into another

form of slavery.

God wants his

people to reflect

his character

and the things

that he does.

So God rested

on the seventh

day,

so he wants

his people,

his sons and

daughters,

to be like him.

Be holy

because I am

holy,

and like Jesus

said,

be perfect

because your

Father in heaven

is perfect.

God's call

to obey

is not

to call

people into

slavery,

put a huge

burden or

yoke on

them,

but to call

them into

sonship,

like father,

like son.

But the people

of Israel

did not get it.

They were

proven to be

a rebellious

people.

And Jesus,

in Matthew 4,

on the other

hand,

was also led

into the

wilderness

to be

tried and

tested.

For 40

days,

he had no

food or

drink,

but he

didn't grumble

a single

time.

In fact,

Satan

tempted him

with all

the tricks

to repeat

Israel's

prior mistakes,

which we saw

in the passage

today.

But Jesus

proved to be

absolutely

obedient to

God as

the Son of

God,

whom God

is well

pleased.

And that

is the

first thing

that God

declared when

Jesus came

out of being

baptized by

John the

Baptist.

With us as

Christians,

God uses

trials to

reveal our

character,

how broken

we are,

and how

much we

need him,

and the

gospel of

Jesus Christ.

The beauty

is that he

does not judge

us by our

character,

because we

are hidden

in Christ,

as Paul

says in

Colossians 3,

chapter 3,

verse 3.

It is like

we are pieces

of silver

jewelry,

and if you're

familiar with

silver,

or have some

silver earrings,

whatever,

they always

go black.

That is us,

that's our

character,

that is how

we're supposed

to be judged.

But what we

need is to be

gold-plated,

and Jesus

is our gold,

he covers us

all the way

through and

through,

so that when

God sees us,

he only sees

Jesus'

character,

which is pure

gold.

God gives

his people

trials to

prove their

nature and

character.

That is the

first reason

God puts

his people

through trials.

The second

reason God

gives his

people trials

is to humble

and teach

his people,

us,

to live

God-dependent

lives.

In Exodus

16, the

Israelites started

to complain

about their

food.

It's been

45 days

since they

left Egypt,

so their

bread had

probably run

out.

God gave

them a few

simple commands

related to

the manna,

how much

to gather

on each

day, and

how long

to keep

and not

to keep

the manna,

etc.

Why?

God says

in Exodus

16, 4,

and you can

take a look

with me,

he says,

that I may

test them

whether or

not they

will walk

in my

instruction.

To walk

in, in

the Hebrews

mind, is

to not go

for a hike,

but to

live with

or live

by.

In

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 8:3

8, verse

3, when

Moses was

speaking of

this same

manna

incident to

the Israelites,

he further

explained that

God humbled

you and

let you be

hungry and

fed you

with manna

which you

did not

know, nor

did your

fathers know

that he

might make

you understand

that man

does not

live by

bread alone,

but man

lives by

everything

that proceeds

out of

the mouth

of God.

In other

words, true

living is

not by

what goes

into our

mouth, but

what comes

out of

God's

mouth.

God's put

people through

trials in

order to

humble them

so that they

may experience

how life-giving

and dependable

his every

word is.

American

author

Joni

Erickson

Tata, who

suffered a

diving accident

when she

was a

teenager and

was made

quadripedric,

basically

paralyzed from

the neck

down, one

said that

in a way,

I hope I

can take my

wheelchair to

heaven with

me.

I know that

this is not

biblically

correct, but

if I were

able, I

would have

my wheelchair

up in

heaven right

next to me

when God

gives me my

brand new

glorified body.

and I

will then

turn to

Jesus and

say, Lord,

do you see

the wheelchair

right here?

Well, you

were right

when you

said that

in this

world we

would have

trouble,

because that

wheelchair

was a lot

of trouble.

But Jesus,

the weaker

I was in

that thing,

the harder

I leaned

on you.

And the

harder I

leaned on

you, the

stronger I

discovered you

to be.

What a

prayer.

Instead of

praying for

the Lord

to take

away our

trials,

maybe we

should pray

and ask

God to

make us

better at

leaning on

him through

our trials.

A step

at a time

and a day

at a time.

The third

reason, the

third point I

would like to

share about

the why of

trials, it's

not so much

about the

why of

trials, but

to talk to

others about

the why of

trials.

trials.

When people

are going

through actual

trials and

sufferings, a

most natural

question people

tend to ask

is why.

And we

can see that

in Exodus

Exodus 17:3

chapter 17

verse 3.

The Israelites

asked why.

Why?

Why?

But what

these people

who are in

pain most

likely don't

need is for

us to give

them a lecture

on how the

Lord is using

trials to

reveal their

character or

to humble

them.

That's not

what they

need.

They also

don't need

us to tell

them in a

personal way

that they are

being punished

because they

did something

wrong, like

Job's friend

did to Job

when he was

suffering his

losses.

And I've

learned from

my spiritual

mentors,

much wiser

men than me

who are in

their 80s,

that the

best we

can do

is what

Paul says

in Romans

12,

chapter 15,

and I

read,

Rejoice

with those

who rejoice

and weep

with those

who weep.

And if

the people

who are

suffering

push us

on why

a good

God would

allow such

a bad

thing to

happen,

like I

was once

asked by

a man in

front of

his whole

family,

why would

God,

if he's

good,

allow my

12-year-old

daughter to

die of a

car accident,

the best

thing to

say is,

I do

not know

why,

but I

know that

God is

good and

that he

is faithful.

So in

explaining the

why of

trials to

people who

are hurting,

it is best

to be a

listener and

not a

lecturer.

This

concludes

section 1,

the understanding

of trials

today,

and so

let's move

on to

section 2.

section 2

is on

responding to

trials,

and I

will share

three

tendencies

and

something

about

overcoming

them.

First

tendency

when facing

trials

is that

people

and us

tend to

bitterly

grumble

against the

Lord.

Once upon

a time,

a middle-aged

monk,

nothing

against

middle-aged

men,

by the

main,

that's me

by the

way,

named

Gabriel,

checked

into a

monastery

in Europe

where monks

are supposed

to practice

the spiritual

discipline of

solitude,

which means

they don't

talk to

anyone,

they'll hide

in their

room for

five years,

and they're

not allowed

to speak

a single

word to

anybody

for the

whole year

until the

end of

the year

when they

will be

summoned

into

this

headmaster's

room,

like the

head monk,

and they

will be

allowed to

share just

two words,

like a

summary of

everything that

they contemplated

for the whole

year.

And so,

the first year

had passed,

and Gabriel

showed up at

this head

monk's office,

and then the

head monk

asked him,

your two

words,

and Gabriel

said,

bad food.

I quit.

grumble.

And the

head monk

said,

Gabriel,

I'm not

surprised,

because all

you did

since your

arrived was

grumble.

In these

three wilderness

incidents where

Israel lacked

water and

food that we

read today,

the word

grumble was

used ten

times.

Don't count

it now,

I actually

counted for

you.

Yeah.

Instead of

keeping up with

praising the

Lord and

rescuing them

through the

ten plagues,

which wasn't

that long

ago,

all they

did was

grumble

since they

got there.

Not a

single word

of gratitude.

The wilderness

had quickly

turned worship

into whinging.

Does God

know what

he's doing?

Is the

Lord really

for us?

How is

this fair?

That's the

heart behind

the grumbling,

a heart of

distrust that

is not

different to

that of

Adam and

Eve in

the Garden

of Eden

when Satan

was testing

them.

Have we

not felt the

same in our

own wilderness

moments,

my friends and

brothers and

sisters?

Do we not

sing praises on

Sundays and

then on Monday

before lunch

when things

don't go as

we planned it,

we already

start whinging?

A way to

overcome the

bitterness that

swells up in

our hearts

whenever we

face our

trials and

suffering is

to remember

the Lord's

past faithfulness.

Where is

that in our

passage today?

In fact,

that's all

over our

passages today.

You see all

this naming

that's going

on in

Exodus 15

to 17.

In Exodus

15 to

1523,

Moses talks

about this

place where

they found

bitter water.

What did he

do?

They named

it Marah.

And then

in verse

17.7,

where Moses

struck the

walk to get

the water,

he named

it Massa

and Meribah.

Marah,

Massa,

Meribah.

And Massa,

Meribah

literally means

test and

strive.

Why all

this naming?

You call

something

something to

help you

recall something.

That's what

it is.

All this

naming is to

help people

remember how

great God's

faithfulness was

towards Israel

despite their

unbelief.

These

were all

done and

all named

so that

people may

remember how

the Lord

graciously

provided and

provided and

provided to

an ungrateful

people that

did nothing

but grumble.

And beside

Merah,

Massa,

Meribah,

there's also

one more

name in the

passage.

What is it?

Manna.

Right?

Yeah,

Manna.

I wonder

why all

these M's?

Manna means

what is it?

And in

Exodus 16.32,

the Lord

commanded them

to keep a

jar of

manna,

not for one

day,

not for one

week,

but for

future

generations,

a jar

of manna

like a

two-liter

bottle that

never expires.

Why?

So that

the future

generations

of Israel

may remember

that the

Lord had

faithfully

been feeding

their ancestors

for 40

whole years

in the

wilderness,

every single

day.

To overcome

our distrusting

heart in the

wilderness,

we need to

turn whinging

into worship,

start recounting

his blessings

and how the

Lord has

shown us

undeserved

grace again

and again

and again,

from our

daily bread

to our

everyday breath

to all the

good times we

had and all

the bad times

and trials that

we have

experienced to

date.

And then

somehow they

have magically

dissipated.

The Lord

has been

faithful.

Remember

God's

grace

all the

way to

the cross.

That way,

even in the

midst of a

major trial,

we may pray

what Job

prayed in

Job chapter

Job 1 · chapter mention

1.

The Lord

has given

and the

Lord has

taken away.

Blessed

be the

name of

the Lord.

And also

in Job

19 where

he said,

For I

know that

my

Redeemer

lives and

at last

he will

stand upon

the earth.

that's the

first tendency

when we

face trials,

bitterly

grumble

against the

Lord.

The second

tendency

when we

face trial

is to

lust

after our

old lives.

Life would

have been

better if I

weren't a

Christian,

wouldn't it?

Exodus

16.3,

as we see it,

the sons

of Israel

said,

With

that we

had died

by the

Lord's

hand in

the land

of Egypt

when we

sat by

the pots

of meat

when we

ate bread

to the

full,

for you

have brought

us out

into this

wilderness

to kill

this whole

assembly

with hunger.

Did

Egyptians

really let

the Israelites

have

lamb stew

for dinner

or bread

to the

full?

That's

questionable,

isn't it?

were they

really dying

of hunger

out in

the wilderness?

I don't

think so.

The Israelites

said in

chapter 17

verse 3

that they

needed water

not just

for them

and their

kids,

but their

livestock.

They have

all these

cows and

goats and

probably chicken

as well

running around

needing water.

So how

are they

dying of

hunger?

There's

no way

they're

dying of

hunger.

So what's

going on

with these

folks?

Well,

they were

physically

redeemed

from

slavery,

but their

hearts

still in

Egypt.

Dissatisfied

with their

circumstances,

they began

imagining in

their heads

that life

was better

in Egypt

and that

their future

as promised

under this

Yahweh God

was overrated.

When facing

trials,

have you

ever said

to yourself

that things

used to be

so much

better when

I was

not a

Christian?

I know

I have.

When I

was not

a Christian,

I could

steal,

I could

lie,

I could

cheat in

my tax

returns,

indulge in

food,

alcohol,

gambling,

watch dodgy

shows,

do anything

without feeling

too bad

about it.

Wasn't

life so

much more

fun and

satisfying?

Before I

was Christian?

Absolutely.

So when I

was going

through a

marriage meltdown,

or when I

was having a

bad patch in

my corporate

career,

or when my

kids were

driving me

insane,

checking that

she's there

and listening,

you know,

I was literally

thinking about

these things,

yes,

life was good,

what am I

doing here

as a

Christian?

I've

lusted after

my good old

lives and

my good old

days.

I'm not

proud of it,

but that's

what I've

done,

and I may

do it again

during hard

times.

So how can

we overcome

the lust

of our

old lives?

One of my

mentors,

Dr. John

Hanna,

his name,

once said

that you

can't just

will away

something sweet

unless you

replace it

with something

sweeter.

You can't

just think

and say,

oh,

I'm going

to stop

it,

you know,

you can't

just will

it away.

In

response to

Israel's

lust after

their imaginary

good lives

in Egypt,

the Lord

literally had

provided

something sweeter

to them

as a

replacement.

He rained

down

manna,

which 1631

says,

tasted like

wavers

with honey.

Now,

that's a

whole lot

of sugar

in their

mouths.

And for

Christians,

he didn't

just rain

down

manna,

but sent

his own