The Israelites, God’s chosen children, are complaining again. They are complaining to Moses about not having water. What they are saying is, “Is the Lord with us or not?”

The interesting thing is that they are being moved to a new location in batches at the command of the Lord. Would the Lord send them there to die of thirst? Was that His intention?

It reminds me of when our family moved to Gaziantep, Turkey. Before we went, I remember saying that I was excited about going because it was 100% against my flesh. I did not want to go, and that made me excited. I knew that I was going only in obedience and in surrendering my life to the Lord and His will.

Guess what happened when we got there? It was 100% against my flesh. I was miserable at first. I grumbled and complained. Of course, the Lord brought blessing, even into those first miserable days.

It was January. Our only heat was electric heaters because the radiator was broken. The problem was the electric system couldn’t handle the electric heaters and we were constantly blowing the fuse.

I was drained from traveling across continents alone with five children, including a two-month-old, jet-lagged in a new time zone, and freezing. I complained to my husband that this apartment he picked for us was not at all what we had agreed upon.

The Lord did bring me to a place of contentment with a little time, even though we stayed in that apartment with the broken radiators. And the Lord did bring blessing into those first days. Neighbors saw that we were cold and brought us a coal stove and blankets and rugs. It was our first real connection and it happened right away because of the cold. We’re still connected with that family even now, years and continents away.

Our being in that apartment became the reason that building turned into a school for Syrian refugees, in time. But first the obedience and the contentment had to come.

He doesn’t abandon His children. He just knows that the biggest blessing is waiting on the other side, and we just see the mountain. We need to have eyes for Him alone.