Water from a Rock

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0:00 So this morning we're going to look at Exodus 17. We're going to look at just a few verses. And as we jump in, I want to, you know, it was interesting for pairing. I've, for whatever reason, I've had the opportunity to speak a few times here and several times in my life. And it's an interesting journey to how a message comes together. And there's a lot of different structures and formal teaching and stuff like that

0:32 you can follow. And as I was preparing for this one, it was this, you know, all of that stuff, all those different methods that I followed in the past, whatever, just kind of, it was great because I just felt this desire to just set it aside. So I don't feel like I'm teaching this morning, but I'm worth sharing this morning just some things that God just put on my mind and in my heart. So we're going to start, Exodus chapter 17, we're going to read just a couple verses and I'll read it out loud for us.

1:04 And it says, starting verse 1, it says, the Lord's command to the people, at the Lord's command, the people of Israel left the thin desert and moved from place to place. Eventually they came to a referendum, but there was no water to be found there. So once more the people grumbled and complained to Moses, give us water to drink, they demanded. Quiet, Moses replied, why are you arguing with me and why are you testing the Lord? But tormented by thirst, they continued to complain,

1:36 why did you ever take us out of Egypt? Why did you bring us here? We, our children, and our livestock, will all die. And then Moses pleaded with the Lord, what should I do with these people? They are about to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, take your shepherd's staff, the one he used when he struck the water of the Nile. Then call some of the leaders of Israel and walk ahead of the people. I will meet you there by the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock and water will come pouring out.

2:09 Then the people will be able to drink. Moses did just as he was told and the leaders looked on and water dushed out. Moses named the place, Massa, the place of testing, and Maraba, the place of arguing because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, is the Lord going to take care of us or not? So this morning there's a couple of scenes or thoughts that I had in preparing this. And the first one, the first one is this, is that no matter where we are

2:44 in our current situations, those current situations, they matter to God. And you can see that in the text that God's in the midst of doing something really big in history and history of the church. He's led his people out of captivity, out of slavery in Egypt. He's brought them out to the desert. And there are a few chapters into the desert, which I don't think I know the exact time when the story happened. And there's the situation to where the people don't have any water.

3:17 And God's got these big plans that he's working on like they're about to go to Mount Sinai where he gives off the Ten Commandments, there's about to be a battle in just a few sentences. That's about to happen. And there's this need that the people have, and God shows up and he meets that need. And to me, that just speaks volumes to no matter where we are in our situation, that it matters to God. He's present. He was present with Israel in this time where they needed something simple yet so critical, like water.

3:52 He didn't ignore their needs. He didn't say, oh, you'll figure it out. He didn't say dig. You'll find water. He didn't say go over here and find water. But he showed up and he was in that moment and didn't walk away. And he believed them. And like this morning, I'm really a few weeks ago, God put it on my heart to start writing down prayer requests with different people they interact with in different areas of life.

4:23 And so I did that and I tried to keep it up. There's a text thread of all the guys for Thursdays because we tried to go to lunch together. And it's really great because I can't make it to every Thursday. But then it always sends a recap email or a text of here's who we're praying for this week and why we're praying for them. And it's cool just to be able to track that out and track the different prayer requests and then when things get answered, being able to move it to another section of the list, it's really cool to see that.

4:54 And there's another one I have for other people in my life, different parts of my life that I'm praying for. And I'd say all of this to say we're all either going through something really, really hard. We know somebody who's going through something really, really hard. And with the pandemic, with job losses, with raising kids, that's tricky, and marriages, and just life hard.

5:25 And what's great about this passage and pulling water from a rock, it's just a reminder that God in the midst of that hard with us, he's doing something big and we'll get to that in just a second. But he's also right here, right now. And as I look at the list of people that I've been praying for, and I try to look at it every morning and pray for him, but as I look at it, it's just humbling to know, like,

5:55 man, no matter what I'm going through, everybody else has got other things that they're going through as well. And so I don't know where you are at the moment, but just a friendly reminder, God knows he's there to meet those needs. And it's pretty remarkable just to know that, that we have a God that is doing something huge, like, in this story, he's doing something huge and yet he's there on the day-to-day with you and providing for you. The second thing that I really like about this text is he can withstand our complaints and

6:31 our testing. So, you know, in the passage it talks about Moses cries out to God and says, like, what are we going to do here? These people are going to kill me. This is a big enough deal that this entire nation of people are complaining and they're saying, where is God? We should never have left Egypt, which feels like that's a common theme that happens throughout the entire book of Exodus, the entire Old Testament, really you can say even our own lives, like, we should have never left this or we should have never tried this.

7:04 And God can withstand all of your testing and your complaining. I want to say that this morning. And sometimes, I don't know, you might have grown up with this perception that you should always be thankful no matter what's going on and just the people have it worse than you and just deal with it. And you should be thankful for what you have, but at the same time, know that God's big enough to be able to handle your complaints, to handle your testing. You know, God doesn't get upset in this moment and, like, walk away from the nation of Israel.

7:38 He stays faithful to his promises and he stays with the nation while they're complaining and they're testing him. And so, this morning, just know it's okay to complain. It's okay for you to say not everything is okay. It's okay for you to say that you're having a hard time and you're doubting God's goodness right now in this situation. God can handle that. And so, I think there's just this invitation to just be human and be real.

8:09 And sometimes we all struggle. Sometimes we wonder, where is God? Is he going to show up in the situation or not? And just know that he can handle that. And so, I think it's a good thing to build a share of that with him and to talk with other people and just to hear your doubts. Another thing that I've kind of touched on lightly is that I find in this passage is that he's faithful even when we're not faithful. So, 2 Timothy 2, 13 says, if we're faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

8:41 At this point, in the journey outside of Egypt, there's like four kind of remarkable big miracles that have happened, right? So, first one, the nation is leaving Egypt. Pharaoh's coming behind them and they hit the Red Sea, roadblock. And God parts the sea. That's like a pretty big miracle in it of itself. And they pass through completely untouched. Another thing that they do, or that God does with them, is that he promises his presence will be there to guide them.

9:16 So, during the day, there's a cloud that's going ahead of them that's representing God's presence and he's guiding them. And at nighttime, there's fire. Pretty amazing. God's doing that. A third incident that's happened, or a third thing that happened, a miracle that happened, is that to this 15, so just two chapters ago, they walk up their thirsty, right? And during the desert, of course, they're going to be thirsty. And there's this pool of water, and they got a drink from the pool of water, and it's bitter. And they can't drink from it because it's obviously salty.

9:49 And so, God turns that into fresh water that they can actually drink. So, that's like another miracle. That's the third miracle that's happened since the nation left Egypt. And then the fourth thing, which just happened a chapter ago, chapter 16, is God's providing food for them on a regular basis. So, every single morning, they wake up, and there's this dewy substance on the ground, and they go up to it and they can pick it up. And it's man, it's like bread. And then, every single night, there's quail for them to enjoy.

10:22 And what's crazy about that, like God gives very specific instructions, like, only take enough manna in the morning for you and your family, except for on the sixth day, take a double portion. If you took a double portion on day five, or day one through five, it would just rot. God's literally telling Israel every single day, he's showing up from every single day, providing exactly what they need, and tell them exactly how much they should actually take.

10:52 And then, of course, that's the fourth miracle. And then the fifth one, as we're talking about right now, is this water from a rock that God's providing actual water directly from a rock, which all I have to say, God has been faithful for this whole time. And even though Israel has had all of these examples of times where God has been faithful and shown up for them, they still doubt, and they still wonder that God brings us out of Egypt just to let us die.

11:24 And I say that this morning to say, there are undoubtedly times in your life right now where God has been faithful for the rest of your life. And right now, where God has been faithful to you in the past, and yet maybe we've just forgotten about that. We've forgotten about how God showed up with him maybe six months ago, or how God showed up in another situation, or the fact that we're here today, we can look at and see that God has been faithful, God has been good,

11:58 and even though maybe we doubt and we forget that, just knowing that God is always going to show up for us just like He did with Israel is super comforting to me. And I know it has to be comforting for all of us because no matter what God's providing for us, and He's going to continue to provide for us. So I just love that. I love that. Leading up to this, like there's these four other miracles that God does, and it's just a representation that God has moved in the past. So I'm here to say this morning, God has moved in the past in your own life.

12:29 I know there's moments. And right now where you are, it may seem like we're in the desert, and there is no help coming. God is so faithful. And He said He's going to be with you no matter what. The fifth thing that just kind of like called my attention or popped up when I was reading this text is, God is here in our midst right now, and He's also in tomorrow.

13:01 And right now where Israel is in this moment, they're in the midst of the desert, and it's been taped out of their homeland. And God is meeting their needs right then and there today. And He's also preparing big things to happen in the future. But I said it before, like they're about to go into a battle. They're about to be attacked actually with people, the warriors of Amalek come out.

13:31 And this is the story like getting into it later in chapter 17. This is the story like when Moses pitches arms up, then Israel starts to win. And the moment he takes his arms down, Israel starts to lose. And so they prop up Moses' hands. And that's about to happen. Like today, the water's coming out of the rock, and tomorrow this is going to happen, and God's in both of those moments. And not too far in the future, God is right then and there, and calling them to Mount Sinai to give them the 10 commandments.

14:06 Wherever you're going through right now, God's here today, but He's also doing bigger things, and He's preparing for other things, and He's in tomorrow as well. Which is this comforting to me as a believer to know that right now in the midst, it's hard for me to see maybe what God's doing in the future going through something. And I don't know what God's doing. It's hard sometimes to remain faithful, it's hard sometimes to remember that. I started working for Disney about three and a half years ago.

14:40 And a lot of reasons why I took the position, and it always felt like I could do more and bring more value than what I was doing for three years. I don't know how many other jobs I applied to within Disney or even outside of Disney that I didn't get, or I just kind of knew that it wasn't the right direction for me. And last year was really hard because in the organization they restructured things, and overnight people who were my peers were getting promoted.

15:10 And truthfully, there's times I'm wondering, how did that person get promoted that had me, and I kept doing the hard work, and it just felt like I wasn't getting attention. I felt like I wasn't getting the right position. Whatever it was, I couldn't get ahead. For some reason I kept getting passed over for all these other jobs. And it was hard. It was like really, really hard.

15:40 Not that my work had become my identity, but any means, but I mean, we all, like in our work that we're doing, we like to excel, we like to do well, we like to grow and take on new opportunities and more things, right? And for whatever reason, for three years, the exact opposite happened. And it was really, really hard. It was hard for me to understand, like in those moments, like what God actually was doing. And then it's crazy, you know, for me personally, all that changed.

16:16 And it came really quickly, and it changed like this week. So like back in December started, there were some opportunities that came open at work and applied for those, but I mean, I'm going into these like expecting to not get the position or the offer or anything else. And just expected like, okay, I'll just stay where I'm at right now, making other plans. And then the last like four or five weeks things changed with all these different positions so much, and then it came down to, you know, on Tuesday I was approached by two different leaders and basically said,

16:51 hey, these are two different jobs. It's yours if you want it. And I had the ability to choose between two different promotions. And I'm still trying to see that as a gift. It was extremely hard for me to figure out which position do I take and all these other things. But I'm saying a lot to say, where you are right now, and I know some of us in the room are like in a really tough spot with either work or your family, it's hard to, when you're in the midst of it, to see that God's in the tomorrow.

17:24 And that God's already working something. And had I taken any of those other positions in the last three years that worked out, I wouldn't have been ready for this position that was presented to me this week. And that's just a friendly reminder that God is there, he's already working, he knows exactly what he's doing. You know, this morning, this Bible that I'm using, it's super old and it's kind of funny. Y'all, this is the students life application Bible.

17:55 It's been through some stuff, right? And it's really cool to kind of like flip through it and see like what younger Brian was reading about, like, oh look, there's, you know, highlights and stuff. And I flipped the cover and this was given to me, it's kind of faded. This was given to me December, I think the 9th of 1998. And it was given to, I had a really close friend named Dustin growing up as a kid and his family were believers

18:30 and they gave me this Bible in 1998 and the reason why 1998 was significant is because I wasn't even, I wouldn't even call myself a believer at that time. And they gave me, they gave me this Bible, you know, first time anybody had given me a Bible as a Christmas gift. Which I thought was a weird gift at the time. And all that changed like six months later and, you know, I can remember, it was out of youth camp and I can remember, you know,

19:05 I made that decision that, you know, I wanted to become a believer, I wanted to become a Christian. And when I grabbed the Bible off the shelf this morning just because I was like, okay, I need a different version. I've been reading a few different versions this week. I pulled this off, I didn't even make the connection, but in 1998, I mean, how many years ago was that? That was, you know, more than five years ago, it was one time ago. I had no idea what God was doing in that day, on December 9th, 1998, and here I am, and on February 13th,

19:41 2022, using the very Bible to share with you guys. And that's just an illustration like God is doing something not only today, but he's also in the tomorrow. Like he knew, anything they do the math yet, by the way, how many years is that? Twenty-four, cool, good thing. I ask you guys for help. Twenty-four years later, God's doing something like God knew twenty-four years after this hit my hands for the very first time that I was going to be using it this morning. And that's just so cool. Like that's just a very simple illustration that God's in the tomorrow in the midst of today as well, which I just love that.

20:16 And the next thing that I'll say is that God always is, of course, you know, I actually completely forgot the point, but only just say this. God's not limited to the rules of the world. And I think this is a great illustration, so this morning I brought with me a rock. And everyone in this room has taken a breath and has at least held a rock in their hands at least once, right?

20:48 We all know what rocks feel like. This is a smooth rock. My wife reminded me this is a rock that I am borrowing from somebody else's front yard in another neighborhood that they have no idea what they are doing. And I will return it, eventually. But from this rock, if you think about an actual rock itself, there is zero moisture in a rock. There's none. And we could break it open and then it would still be dry and brittle. And what's crazy is that God uses a rock to pour water out of it.

21:20 You know, like a tree, that would kind of make sense, right? Because there's moisture in trees or, you know, something else he could have pulled water out of, and it would have made sense. But what's crazy is that God uses a rock. And I think that's just a call to us today, like as a reminder as believers, is that God's not limited to the rules and the laws of physics. God's not limited to our rationale. God's not limited to what we can comprehend.

21:50 And what's amazing is being the people of God, that means that we're opened up to those same exceptions to the rule, if you will. Like the people of God, God can use anything and can do things in ways that it's hard for us to comprehend. I was telling Ben, there's this theory out there called the Black Swan Theory. And last Sunday, when we were at home, I was talking to Salah, which is 13, and I was trying to explain to her the Black Swan Theory.

22:23 And essentially what Black Swan Theory is, is that whenever something comes out of nowhere, it's like a surprise, has a altering, huge effect on things that you couldn't predict. Like walking upon a Black Swan, which Black Swans are real, there are Black Swans, they're super rare, but it's a rare occurrence that happens. And pulling water from a rock is just like one of the many examples of a Black Swan situation in the Bible. And I'm saying all this about Black Swans and rocks is because this, we're not limited to the rules of the world.

22:57 We're not limited to the laws of the world. We're not limited to only the resources of the world. God can do whatever He needs to do, like pulling water out of a rock to supply something for you. Which is kind of baffling if you think about it. And then the last thing I just want to leave you guys with this. God's always, of course, doing more than we can actually see in the current moment, which I think is a kind of theme that I've touched on a few times.

23:31 But right now, because you're sitting here, you have roughly about 45 trillion cells in your body. And by the end of the day, over 200 billion of those are going to be replaced by new ones. You just make it by the end of the day and that's going to happen automatically. So you've got 45 trillion cells in your body and roughly 220 billion of them are going to be replaced by the new day.

24:05 Something that you're doing to really impact that, right? Like you're not causing that to happen, just staying alive, of course, that's happening. But God's doing that. He's doing that in the midst of whatever it is you're going through right now. God is, we're literally recreating you in this moment. And there's, you know, exodus, the definition means a mass departure of people. And I was thinking about that this morning.

24:36 There's this picture that I have from an artist hanging up in my office. I look at it every day. And the picture, it's a really cool picture. It's got like waves, right? And there's like two hands on the waves doing this kind of motion. And it says this, it says, what's the miracle that when you were stuck away opened up?

25:13 Or awakening to the truth that the giver is paying such close attention to your exodus. You know, this morning, like, man, I would love it if God could, like, pour water up a rock in our heart situations in life right now. I would love that. But the real miracle is, is there's this invitation to wake up to reality that no matter what you're going through. God, the giver is paying so close attention to you and to the person next to you, to what they're going through,

25:52 to paying attention to their exodus, bringing them out of something that they're in right now, to do something new that only you can do. And, like, to me, that's the miracle. And that's hard to remember. It's going to be hard to remember tomorrow, if it's in it, three-thirty or whatever. But it's something just for this moment, for this morning. It's felt appropriate to share, like, we're looking for the water from the rock. And sometimes those moments happen to where God just shows up in unique ways and remarkable ways,

26:25 like having multiple job offers and the same day. But the reality is, even when that stuff's not happening, God is already working on your exodus, and He's believing in you, and He's doing something in you. And so I just love that this morning. I just love that this simple passage of the story of the water from the rock. It's just a reminder of all those different things that I mentioned, but it's just that reality that, man, I hope we can wake up.

26:55 Right now, I hope we can wake up and stay awake to the reality that God has paid so close attention to us. Because that is the miracle, that God's not just some far off existence or far off idea, but He's actually something that's personal and that's real and is actually caring about us. That to me is what's really cool. I'm going to pray, and thank God for that reality and thank God for that truth, and then I think we're going to move into a time of prayer and meditation.

27:28 Next, so let me do that. Thank you for letting me share with you guys, but let's pray real quick. Thank you so much for giving me this chance to speak today. And when I found out a few weeks ago that I was going to do this, I had no idea that this is how it was going to go.

28:02 And I just am so thankful for the reality that 24 years ago you knew that this moment was going to happen for me. And if that's true for me, then I know it's true for everybody who's here. God, we've got hard, hard stuff that we're all facing, or we know people that are facing really, really hard stuff.

28:35 So I just asked this morning, I just pray this morning, that you would just wake us up to that truth and to that reality that you care about us. You're going to provide for us, you're going to be faithful to us even if we're not, you can handle our complaints. But just the reality and the miracle of the fact is that you're a God who cares. You're a God that moves close to us when we're brokenhearted.

29:12 A lot of us got, are looking forward, need to do something in our lives right now where there's a lot of prayers that are out there that there's needs that need to be met. God just help us to, in the midst of all of those needs that we have, needing water well in the midst of a desert, remind us of that, that you're also doing something big. And that you're super aware of what we're going through.

29:45 Jesus, I thank you so much for making all of this real and all of this, uh, tangible by coming and standing in our place and for dying for us when we definitely didn't deserve it. It's just another sign that you care about us, that you care about our exodus from where we currently are. God, do your thing. I hope that connects to everybody in this room in a different way and the only way that you can.

30:15 But just thank you so much for doing that for me, for being aware of my assistance. Okay, amen.