Blame or Credit God?

Read Exodus 15-17
 
Exodus 16:8 Moses continued, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and abundant bread in the morning, for He has heard the complaints that you are raising against Him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD.”
 
ISRAEL criticized Moses and Aaron for their perceived lack of food. Some might see Moses as shifting the blame away from himself and toward God! After all, that’s what we are prone to do. When we are challenged in any aspect of our lives, we readily make excuses and say, “It’s not my fault!”
    But what’s Moses actually doing? He is teaching his people God’s supreme authority over all things. This is vital in the life of the Hebrew nation. They need to get to know God, whom they call Yahweh (YHWH), which means the LORD God Almighty. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the Lord of everyday life, the God of eternal life. His power is over all the heavens and the earth.
     Israel must come to personally understand that they are Yahweh’s people because He has birthed them. The LORD God formed them and sustained them through many difficulties. In turn, they must submit to and obey his authority.
    The apostle Paul writes in Romans of the gratitude we must express to the God who saved us from death. In awe and wonder of God’s actions to make us his own, we are to humbly submit to God’s headship. This means we are willing and eager to work as the body of Christ to display God’s glory – his wonder and power to all the world. To know “God did it!” in his wisdom is to “know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
    To blame God in any aspect of life is to reject his holy authority. We put our demands over God’s commands, and that is sin.
    And consider this. If Moses had taken the blame for Israel’s circumstance, he might have received the credit when God brought food to the camp. Moses wanted Israel to focus on God for all things. This is true for you, too. Keeping focused on God, you will see him in the trials, so you will celebrate him in the victories.
     
Prayer: Thank you, Father God, for strengthening and shaping us to know you more personally. I pray I submit to your authority, find joy in the challenges and see your power to overcome all things, even death. Amen.